


In Gen-o Veritas

by UnintentionalOracle (ConsultingHunterofGallifrey)



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Basically Crack Until Feelings Hit, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Crack and Angst, Did They or Didn't They, Drunken Shenanigans, Gen Has A Bi Crisis, Local Scientist Is Stupid With Love, Love Triangles, M/M, Morning After, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, bastard loving bastards, chrome/ruri in the background, everyone can see it, everyone who was old enough to be in the grand bout's 18 and up, waking up together, where we're going we don't need canon compliance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:07:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 19,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22674583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConsultingHunterofGallifrey/pseuds/UnintentionalOracle
Summary: When Gen asked Senku to spend some alone time with him for his birthday, things seem to have taken a turn after a few drinks.Gen swears he's straight, and there's a possibility they didn't...but...it's not weird now, is it?And that's just the start of the trouble...
Relationships: Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu, Ishigami Senkuu/Shishiou Tsukasa, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 52
Kudos: 216





	1. Happy Birthday, Mr. Mentalist

**Author's Note:**

> Hoo boy, dipping my toes into something new. I had an idea and ran with it. Hope you enjoy.

Gen whined as the sun peeked into the room. His head was threatening to split in two, his throat was dry, and his body did  _ not _ want to face the day.

_ Not when Senku said we were going to work on central heating and air conditioning today... _ He thought miserably. That meant a lot of manual labor, and Senku had only given him a reprieve yesterday because it was his birthday...

* * *

_ "I don't want much, Senku," he'd said, leaning against his work table. _

_ "Except, let me guess...you said something about a hot tub full of cute idols? Back when we met?" Senku said, inspecting the coolant he'd been working on before looking at his blueprints and such. _

_ "No..." Gen said, a little surprised that he remembered that instead of, say, purging that memory for more science. "All I want is a couple of colas and some time alone with ou-yay~..." He'd put his hands behind his back like a schoolgirl, e ven p outing a little to tease him. _

_ "Eh?" Senku said, nearly dropping his chart of advancements they needed to create heaters and A/Cs. _

_ "I mean, we're friends, right? And friends tend to spend time with each other on their birthdays..." he prodded. _

_ "But why just me? Why not with the village?" _

_ "Because I figured they could continue with the–was it copper wiring? No, I think we did that already–whatever, the scientific advancements–" _

_ "Don't you ever ‘whatever’ science in front of me again." _

_ "–pretty okay without you. They seem to have it down, Chrome's a big boy, and I know you wouldn't take a break if we fell  _ too _ far behind..." _

Plus I just want to spend time with you.  _ Gen thought, but he wanted to keep his cards close to his chest. _

_ "Besides, if we had a party, Ginro would be constantly whining about Kinro having him guard the bridge, instead." _

_ Senku laughed. "Fair enough. Hey, Chrome!" Senku called. "You're in charge! Me and Gen are spending time together, apparently." _

_ "Alone?" Kohaku asked. "With no strings attached?" _

_ "Trust me, I'll work Gen twice as hard tomorrow..." Senku said with a dark, creepy, and all to sinsterly-gleeful look on his face that sent shivers through Gen's bones and made his muscles already protest at whatever he had planned. _

_ Then in the blink of an eye, Senku was cheerful and faux-innocent. The gremlin. "But for today, he gets a break! We'll be in the observatory if you need us..." _

* * *

From there, it slowly became a blur. He could remember that Senku had finding some of the alcohol (a leftover from a village celebration) and had joking about reinventing the cocktail with some of the cola. Gen had jokingly agreed, since they ‘weren't doing business’, but then they actually _ did  _ make cocktails, and...

...ah, so  _ that's  _ why he felt like crap this morning.  _ I  _ was _ kind of a lightweight, the few times I was offered alcohol before The Stone World... _

Still, there was something  _ else _ off about this morning. As he slowly continued to awaken, he noticed he felt... _ exposed _ under the fur and hide blankets...yup. He was naked.

Gen didn't even want to _know_ what he did while drunk that night. From what accounts he'd heard from friends, exes, and his very put-upon agent, Drunk Gen had no filter and was a bit of a flirt. And he was a total menace to society if it weren't for controlled environments. Factoring in the fact he apparently decided to strip last night... _Oh God, Senku had to put up with_ that _!_ _I'm going to have to apologise for once. He must've been in absolute He–_

That's when he finally registered the other body in the bed.

The  _ equally naked _ other body in the bed.

Senku snuggled up to Gen in his sleep, looking bizarrely peaceful and uncharacteristically sweet.

Gen tried to keep the freaking out to a minimum as he connected the dots.  _ Did we–!? No, maybe we didn't...but then why are we  _ both  _ naked!? But I'm straight! There's no way I... _

"Mmmhmmmm..." Senku mumbled in his sleep, nuzzling him. "Tsukasa, you're too tall to kabedon me...just kneel down you coward so I can...hnnnnnnnn..."

Well, that settled nothing, it just raised  _ more _ questions! Like why wasn't he mumbling about  _ Gen _ ? Or why did Gen  _ care _ ?

Suddenly, Senku stilled. His eyes flew open and he looked up at Gen. He lifted the blankets and looked under them.

"Huh. Your piece of unbroken stone is on your inner thigh. Interesting," he said flatly as he rubbed his chin.

Gen covered said bit of still-petrified flesh as well as his crotch, blushing. " _ Senku! _ "

Senku stretched. "Good morning, Mentalist. Have a good time last night?"

"Maybe a bit  _ too _ good...Senku, did we...!?"

"Do it? Eh, I dunno!" Senku said, cleaning out his ear with his pinky. "I do think we got a little  _ too  _ excited with the cocktails..."

" _ SENKU THIS IS SERIOUS!" _

"Relax, we're both eighteen and up, here." Senku said with a shrug.

"That's not the problem!" Gen said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He motioned between the two of them. "I mean, this is  _ weird _ , right? And if the others find out it's going to be more weird. And also I'm not gay!" he said, a little too insistent on the last part.

"Uh huh...well, they're going to  _ definitely  _ suspect something if you keep lying around naked..." Senku said, leaning back.

Realizing he was right, Gen scrambled to put on at least his leggings. His eyes darted to Senku briefly, noticing him get up. Then he hyperfocused on getting dressed before he saw anything.

"This never leaves this room, got it?" Gen said, throwing on his shirt and kimono. "I don't want our dynamic changing," he added as he threw on his outer layer and struggled with his obi in his hurry to put last night's mysteries behind him.

"Yeah, I get it. I don't want it to be weird, either," Senku said, wrapping up his arms with his dress-coat-thingy hanging open. ( _ At least he put on a loincloth... _ Gen thought.) "Though, I'll be honest, it wouldn't be the worst thing ever if it turns out we did sleep together..."

Gen froze. Was...was he about to confess? After they just agreed they _ didn't _ want things to change between them?

"There's  _ lots _ of scientific benefits to–"

"Oh, please don't talk science to me right now..." Gen said, rubbing his temples. His headache was kicking in already.

"You know, I think we still have some of that hangover cure I whipped up after that celebration the village had two days ago. I swear these people find every excuse possible to drink."

_ Says the guy who practically hoarded a whole pitcher's worth of the brandy that night... _

"I mean I guess we haven't worked out water filtration yet...hmm...that's probably our next priority over pastries."

"Do I  _ dare  _ ask what pastries lead to?" Gen dare asked, tying up his undershirt.

"Better housing. I'm on a bit of a ‘improve the quality of life for the village’ kick, lately," Senku said with a shrug as he finally put on some pants.

"Careful, someone might start thinking you're actually becoming a proper chief..." Gen said, being super careful not to make it sound flirty but it probably ended up sounding flirty anyway. Damn it.

"Are you kidding? If I give them more amenities, it just means they'll work harder for me..." Senku said, face contorting into a gremlin-eske look of mad evil.

"Aaaaaaaaand there's the ‘I swear I don't care’ pivot..." Gen said with a more fond sigh than intended.

Senku seemed to catch on. "What? Don't tell me you joined my harem, too..."

"No!" Gen insisted. "Besides,  _ you're _ the one who was mumbling about Tsukasa in his sleep...which, by the way,  _ eriously-say _ ?"

Senku actually seemed slightly  _ flustered _ by this. "It was a hate dream."

"You mentioned  _ kabedoning _ ."

"...It was  _ intimidation _ kabedoning."

"Oh, you  _ liar _ ! That's bull–"

There was a knock at the door.

"HEY SENKU! GEN! ARE YOU TWO UP YET!? WE FINISHED THE WHATCHAMACALLIT!" Ginro shouted from behind the door.

"Yeah, come on! We want you two to see it!" Suika said eagerly.

"Uh, just a second..." Gen said, making sure they were both presentable and didn't look too much like they'd been _en flagrante_.

"What, are you two naked in there?" Chrome asked.

Senku smirked at Gen. Gen glared, then sighed when he saw Senku still had stuff to tie on his outfit and rushed over to do it for him.

"Really? Can't keep your hands off me?" Senku teased.

"Would you rather Tsukasa did this?" Gen fired back.

Both smirked at each other. Gen finished his task. "Okay, we're presentable! Just had to..."

"...fix Gen's hair!" Senku said. "He insisted."

"Well, get on out here!" Chrome said.

"We should go before they explode from excitement..." Senku said, doing a small stretch before approaching the door. "And relax, I'm not telling," he said, then he made eye contact with a smirk. "Promise."

...Did Gen's heart just go ‘ba-bump’? Abort! Abort!

"Yeah...and I won't tell them that you want to hook up with Tsukasa..." Gen said with a wink.

Senku scoffed with a smile before heading out. Gen went to follow.

"Don't forget you're doing double duty today!" Senku called back.

Gen whined. "Eriously-say? When I have so much to unpack right now?" He mumbled to himself as he slumped over and trudged to the door in tears at the thought of the work.  _ The things I do for cola...and modern luxuries... _

Gen also almost swore he saw Tsukasa in the opening of the dome. But then he shrugged it off. There was no  _ way _ he was in the village, spying on him and Senku...

...Right?


	2. It's Not Weird!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gen tries to get through the day without tipping anyone off to what might've happened last night, or getting flustered.
> 
> Tries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Thursdays will be a better update day.

"You finish stretching that fabric for the filter yet?"

Gen whined and passed the frame and fabric to Chrome. His wrist hurt  _ so _ bad. He’d thought they were done with manual labor forever, but nooooooooo science found a way to screw him!  _ (Quite possibly literally! _ he thought, the memory of that morning still hanging there.)

"You okay, Gen? You seem out of it." Chrome asked while inspecting Gen's work.

"Just...really out of it..."

"Did you and Senku party too hard?"

"You could say that..." Gen said, the tips of his ears red.

"That's bad!" Chrome said cheerfully.

_ Oh, it's not the bad you think it is... _ Gen thought as he shook out his wrist. He went to reach for one of the coolers that had been a project a few days ago, extracting a bottle of ‘Senku Cola’. ( _ Really? You have to brand  _ everything _? _ ) There were also some bottles labeled ‘Chrome Cola’, that the other boy had whipped together and ‘experimented’ with before giving to Gen as a gift.

Gen was saving those for a last resort.

"What are you doing!? Remember the rule!?" Chrome exclaimed.

Gen's eyes darted to the note hung by Senku:

**"No Food Or Beverages In The Lab When In Use"**

Gen groaned and dragged the cooler out alongside himself as he left the lab. He took a pointed swig once he crossed the threshold.

"GEN! GEN!"

Of all the things Gen expected today, getting nailed in the chest by a little girl hopping around in her melon mask was not one of them. Or being knocked over the cooler and onto the ground. But, he supposed, in the context of being petrified for thousands of years, getting revived by some buff, adult-hating, Communist-leaning fighter because he knew you were a talented mentalist, being told to go find out if some science guy was dead and then betraying said fighter for the scientist, it was all just mundane, now.

And hey, he managed to save his cola, so things weren't all bad.

Suika sat on Gen, popping out of her mask/glasses. "Oops. Sorry, Gen..."

"It's fine, Suika...what is it?"

"I almost forgot to give you your birthday present! It's late, but..."

"It's okay, what..."

Suika plopped a flower crown on his head. "I found a bunch of those nightshade flowers you like and got some help and made it for you..."

_ ...I officially have to die to protect this sweet child. I can't not, it's illegal... _

Gen smiled. "Thank you, Suika. I love it."

Suika grinned, did a little spin, and hopped off to go do whatever she'd been doing before. Gen got up, adjusted the crown, and finished pounding down his cola. As he did so, he caught a glance at Senku staring at him, and quickly started to think.

_ It's not...weird, now, is it? After this morning? I know we're not talking about it, but...NO! It's definitely  _ not _ weird! And you can prove it! Just walk up to him like normal and pretend nothing happened! _

And so Gen went over to Senku, who was hard at work. Possibly harder, now that Gen was approaching. His eyes did briefly dart to Gen once more, however. He smirked. "Cute."

Gen leaned on Senku, noticing Senku tense...and his own heart rate rising. "Thanks, I already knew that. So, what'cha doin'?"

Senku smirked. "I'm putting the finishing touches on the electric fan. See, we were having trouble with the motor, but by replacing the..."

Gen zoned out, only catching key words as Senku devolved into technobabble. He did observe, however, that Senku was really  _ cute _ when he rambled about science. Especially the way his eyes lit up. And his passion was infectious, in a way. Something Gen liked about Senku, he realized. It made him...weirdly happy, to hear him explain how they could restore the old world...

Until Senku paused, seeming to expect a response.

_ Pull up! Pull up! Gayday! Gayday! I mean straightday! AUGH! _

__ "Oh, uh..."

"I lost you halfway through that, didn't I?"

"...Yeah."

Senku sighed. "Just help me get these cords done so we can attach this bad boy to a battery, okay? I need to make sure it'll run on electricity and not manual power."

Gen nodded and poked some wires into the mechanism. "That  _ would _ defeat the purpose of having it be electric..."

The two young men out of time worked together to plug in the wire, then attach it to their battery.

The wire then immediately caught fire as the plastic coating  _ melted _ .

"Damn it!" Senku said, unplugging the wire from the battery, before putting out the small fire. "Why can't I get a thick enough plastic coating on this thing?"

Gen inspected the wire a moment. "Wait a inute-may...shouldn't there be stuff  _ between  _ these wires?"

"What?"

"During one of my shows back in the day...they needed new cords for the lights and the guy only trusted his own work, so he made his own. I watched and there was cardboard in-between-"

"-the wires to insulate them. Gah! I'm an idiot. Having an extra layer of insulation would help a lot! Why didn't I think of that?" Senku groaned, gripping his own hair. "I'm having an off day..."

"Hey, now. It happens. Sometimes you just need a fresh perspective. I mean you  _ have _ been working tirelessly on this stuff since you broke out of the stone..." Gen said.  _ Aside from last night. _ "And you're maybe still a bit hungover?"

"Well, aren't you doting this morning..." Senku said.

"Just call me your emotional support bastard..." Gen said with a wink, starting to feel like things could actually be normal again.

Senku chuckled. "Well, how about you support me by helping unplug this faulty wire? Then telling Chrome to bring me some mica? It'll be just the thing we need, I think...you might need to pound that a bit..."

Gen held back a whine, already feeling pain in his sore wrist again at the thought, as he and Senku both went in for the wiring. Their fingers brushed. Gen felt a zing and immediately looked at Senku. Both froze a moment before Senku swatted his hand away. "Change of plans: you just go get-"

"Get that mica. Right. I was just gonna say...heh..." Gen said, nervously chuckling before hurrying away.

* * *

_ Damn it... _ Senku thought as he glanced at Gen leave, rubbing his strangely sore wrist as he inspected a strange scratch on the back of his hand.  _ Why can't I think straight, today? _

* * *

_ Nope! I can't do it! It's weird! It's weird, now! _

Gen glanced at the vast woods, contemplating just running in and hiding from everyone forever. Seemed easier than confronting whatever  _ this _ was.

And he might've, had he not seen Tsukasa.

He yelped and nearly alerted everyone, that is, before Tsukasa motioned to him to come over.

Gen looked around. He had no idea if Tsukasa had backup, and it was probably best to cooperate with him until he had a better plan. So, with a sigh, he snuck into the woods.

And immediately regretted it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this chapter short? Yes. But will it be worth it? Yes.


	3. Awkward Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gen and Tsukasa have a little chat.

"So, you gained their trust by sleeping with him."

"Hello to you, too, Tsukasa! How did you manage to get this close to the village, unnoticed? And where did  _ that  _ come from?" Gen asked, up to the end of his hair with today.

"I saw you with him. Him in your arms..." Tsukasa said, clenching his fist in front of his chest.

Gen felt the blood drain from everywhere but his cheeks. "You...you saw us...?"

"This morning, yeah."

"HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE VILLAGE!? IT'S LITERALLY ON A LITTLE ISLAND WITH ONE BRIDGE OFF IT!" Gen said, flailing his arms around to illustrate.

"Do you really think I'm going to tell you?" Tsukasa asked.

"Give me time..." Gen said, pulling himself back together. "And I don't even know if we did it! It was an accident! We were drunk!"

"You slept with him on  _ accident!? _ " Tsukasa said, incredulous. Then he started shaking Gen furiously. "YOU JUST GOT DRUNK AND DECIDED,  _ ON A WHIM _ , TO TAKE WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MI-I mean take him?"

Gen blinked.  _ Let's... _ not _ unpack that... _ "Please, I'm hardly his type."

Tsukasa lessened his grip. "Then...what  _ is  _ his type?"

Gen gulped. He could absolutely save his own skin and out his revelation about Senku to Tsukasa. But the last thing he wanted to do was go back on his word. He'd worked so hard to be trustworthy to Senku!

He noticed Kinro out of the corner of his eye, taking a break and polishing his glasses. He also saw Kohaku stretching and hydrating. An idea sparked.

"Tell me where the security flaw is in the village, and I'll tell you Senku's Type," Gen said with a smirk, sniffing a black nightshade flower he'd had stored in his sleeve.

"There're several." Tsukasa said.

"Then give me one and I'll give you part of his type. Quid pro quo, Tsukasa..." Gen said, feeling the breeze and tossing the flower aside to his right.

Tsukasa sighed, gripping his spear. "Fine. There's a bit of lake I can easily jump out of..."

"You...swam across the water...and jumped up into the village?" Gen said, watching Kohaku and Kinro spot the flower.

"It's easy. Okay, so Senku..."

"Well, for starters...he really likes guys who  _ don't _ try and kill him. He's more of a fan of guys who can ATTACK ON CUE! NOW!"

Kohaku and Kinro sprang towards Tsukasa with their katanas. Tsukasa, while confident in his OP strength, was not willing to face two people with realass goddamn swords, so he shoved Gen towards the ground and leapt away.

"Damn it! What did he want?" Kohaku said, held back by Gen and Kinro.

"He was spying on me. Also, we need to somehow make the lake harder to jump straight out of..." Gen said with a shrug.

Both fighters looked bewildered. "He...jumped out of the lake?" Kinro asked.

Gen nodded.

"It's...not the weirdest thing we've seen, I guess..." Kohaku said.

"Oh, no, it's weird by my standards, too..." Gen said.

"Wait, why was he spying on  _ you _ specifically?" Kinro asked, pointing at Gen with his sword.

"To see why I betrayed him, most likely," Gen lied casually. "I think he decided I was simply seduced by science," he added with immediate internal regret over his choice of words.

"I thought it was because you want to hook up with Senku..." Kohaku said.

Gen wheezed. "What!?"

Kinro nodded. "That's what I thought, too. I mean it's obvious..."

Kohaku nodded. "Definitely."

Gen chuckled nervously. "What? I-I don't...I'm straight..."

"Sure, Gen." Kinro said.

"I mean..."

"HEY, GEN! WHERE'S THAT MICA!?"

"COMING~!" Gen called back. "Well, I gotta go now, boss is calling me. Let's discuss this again, erm...never. Ater-lay!" Gen said, zooming off to the shed.

He climbed up the ladder to the shed and went straight to the rack of rocks he couldn't identify many of. "Chrome, which of these is the mica?"

Chrome was pulled from his painfully oblivious attempts at flirting with Ruri via showing off his spelunking equipment, including a pickaxe. "Oh, uh...top left shelf. The ones that look like sheets."

Gen found them, grabbed a hammer and hurried down to Senku, who was already talking to Kohaku and Kinro. "Gen! Did Tsukasa hurt you?" he asked.

Gen shrugged. "Not really. Just threatened me. I swear he probably made some of my white hair become naturally white."

("Wait, it isn't supposed to look like that?")

"I just feel a little bit like...sheet..." Gen said, holding up a piece of mica as he awkwardly tried to lift the mood.

He swore he saw Senku chuckle.

"We can maybe change our plans and work on mines for the lake instead, tomorrow," Senku smirked. "Tsukasa wants to pull some nonsense? We'll hit him with some back."

"You came up with that so quickly? Damn, you  _ are _ impressive..." Gen said.

"I already gave you a present yesterday, Mentalist. No need to butter me up for a while."

As Gen's soul left his body, he noticed Kinro whisper to Kohaku "How is that  _ not _ flirting?" only for Kohaku to shush him.

"We'll finish this today and then we'll get started on underwater mines. Though we'll need white seashells and...damn it we'll need nitric acid, too...we'll get it done, though. And until then there's no need to worry everyone, but I do think we should keep everyone alert."

Kinro and Kohaku nodded and left, Kinro bolting after Ginro as the less responsible brother tried to duck out of today's project. Gen started pounding at his mica as Senku glanced at him, clearly pretending to continue his work.

"So...Tsukasa...did he look good?"

"...Eally-ray?"

"Yeah. Just wanna know..." Senku said, not at all suspiciously.

"Not because you like him or anything, baka?" Gen teased.

"Oh, shut up."

"I'm just saying...also seriously? 'You gave me a present'? That's not exactly ‘not telling’..."

"My present was us hanging out and you getting the day off. And cocktails. Really off-tasting cocktails..."

"How can you be so calm about last night?"

"Because it's not a big deal and I'm not letting you distract me..." He froze. "I mean 'it’! I mean...go see if Old Man Kaseki needs anything, I'll get Kohaku or Magma to help me with this..."

"But...isn't Kaseki's current project like...?"

"Ten billion times harder than this? Yes."

Gen whined. "You're so cruel..." But nonetheless went off to get away from Senku.

_ He really isn't bothered by this at all, is he? _


	4. Maybe He Should Have Gotten The Talk Before Dad Went To Space And Humans Turned To Stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, how's Senku doing?

Senku, in fact, was a bit bothered by this.

At least, the part where his brain was bombarded with a loop of ‘cute Gen observations’. Seriously, he was in the middle of trying to solve the problem of ‘it gets unbearably hot this summer in the village’ and trying to prepare to work on mines for the lake because APPARENTLY Tsukasa could just jump right out of the lake now because  _ of course he could _ ! The last thing Senku needed was to be distracted by Gen.

Or boys in general. Like the thought of naked Tsukasa jumping out of the lake like when he used to fish for him and Taiju.

It was days like this when Senku wished he was a robot. He was sure hypothetical Mecha-Senku wouldn't have these problems...

The fan zapped Senku for the tenth time today. He swore.

Chrome, finished with his project for the day, walked over. "Hey, why don't you take a break? You seem out of it...kinda like Gen...did something happen last night?"

_ Yes. _ "No," Senku said. "I'm good, I can get a stupid fan to work."

"I'm sure you can, but let me handle it."

The two scientists bickered back and forth a while before Senku finally relented. He decided to go for a walk before plopping down somewhere in the village and trying to relax for a few minutes...

...until he realized he was now alone with his thoughts.

Mainly the big elephant in the room: Senku liked guys. He had for a while, even if he wasn't quick to announce it or label it. And he was pretty comfortable with it from a personal standpoint: plenty of scientific articles said that it was perfectly natural to not be straight. Even in the animal kingdom. And society seemed to slowly be attempting to accept the LGBTQ+ community, at least before Petrification. Heck, he'd once more or less ‘come out’ to Taiju and Yuzuriha (well, it was more or less that he accidently made a joke about straightening his launch pad "so it'll be the opposite of me!") and they seemed to accept him without a word.

Really, the only thing he could possibly have had any hangups with in that department was not telling his dad. He was absolutely going to 3700 years ago, after Dad got back from space. But then there was the whole petrification thing, his dad being long since dead now, and well now that closure seemed to be ever so slightly impossible. He tried not to think about or regret it too much...

...unfortunately, there was also at least one other hang-up, potentially two, and the big one was currently trying to kill him.

Tsukasa.

Senku felt himself start to nod off. His internal clock was rattled by his night with Gen (that he'd be lying if he said he wasn't trying to remember.) For science. He tried to stay awake mulling Tsukasa over.

He just...he  _ knew _ despite whatever begrudging respect the two had as worthy opponents, that Tsukasa was bad for him. Their goals clashed too much. And there was the whole ‘tried to kill him’ thing. The counterpoint, however, was Tsukasa was an absolute specimen. And he was allowed to think with his dick every now and again, so long as he didn't do anything too stupid...

...like suggest making cocktails alone in a room with Gen, not knowing variables like how drunk they'd get and how they'd behave, and waking up naked together and ignoring the ten billion questions he had about what happened while simultaneously _ not _ wanting to think about it or Gen right now  _ why the hell did he think that was a good idea? _

Gen was a surprisingly good friend. And Senku had eyes. Even back when Gen appeared on TV before the Stone World, Senku'd admit he wasn't an eyesore. Not exactly his still-developing ‘type’ at the time, but cute. But now it already felt  _ weird _ . And Gen was so freaking antsy over something he clearly wanted to forget. Or wanted to stay forgotten. Whatever.

_ ‘I'm not gay!’ he said, but at the same time, Gen's a liar...but since joining The Kingdom of Science, he hasn't lied to  _ me _. But then again...there was the whole observatory thing...was that just his version of a friend thing or was that like...wooing? _

Senku suddenly hated not understanding if people were flirting with him.

At some point, he  _ did  _ fall asleep. And of course he found himself in the latest installment of his favorite and most hated series of recurring dreams.

* * *

_ Senku was in the science club lab, studying some weird fungi asexually reproducing. Riveting stuff, in a nature's wonders sense. He was unfortunately pulled away from life finding a way by big strong arms. Said arms blocked him from returning to his science. He glanced up and saw it was, as always, Tsukasa. The strongest primate high schooler then immediately cupped his face and kissed him hard. Senku, figuring it was a dream and that it wouldn't hurt to indulge, kissed back. And  _ because _ it was a dream, it was amazing. _

_ Senku pulled back, expecting either escalation or a fight, only to see Old World Gen had replaced Tsukasa. He winked at Senku. _

* * *

Senku let out an "AAAH!" and bolted upright.  _ Damn it, is  _ he _ going to bug me in my dreams, now, too? _

Suika approached Senku, dragging a trying-to-flee Ginro along by his pant leg. "Senku! Are you okay!? We were coming to check on you since you were gone so long...we were worried Tsukasa got you..."

Senku leaned down to Suika's height. "I'm okay, Suika. I just fell asleep and had a weird dream..."

"What happened?"

"Grown-up stuff..." Senku said to cover his tracks.

"Oooooooh, about a giiiiiiiiiirl~!?" Ginro teased, with a wolfishly impish look.

Senku gave him a deadpan: "No," in response.

"But then, who would you have grown-up dreams about?" Ginro asked, honestly confused.

"Taxes."

"What the hell's a taxes?"

"Nevermind. Anyway, I'm good now, let's head back to the others."

Suika nodded and ran back, Ginro left contemplating if he should stay put or go back to labor. Senku dragged him along as an answer.

As they walked, Senku remembered a study he'd read in his downtime. Something about how if you slept with someone, and they were endeared to you, you became a bit more attached to them and less likely to go after other partners. Maybe  _ that  _ was why Gen was slowly gumming up his brain and had shoved Tsukasa out of his dream.

...It might be worth looking into. If, after some time passed for the chemicals in his brain to cool it, Senku would still feel...whatever this was...towards Gen. Like an experiment. Yeah! An experiment!

Senku didn't know a thing about romance, but he knew science. And if science could help him solve his feelings, well, that'd be exhilarating.

Senku got excited.


	5. Gen Reevaluates His Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gen tries to win Senku's attention back for absolutely platonic reasons he swears.

It was a few days after the cocktail incident. Senku had been acting weird lately, at least towards Gen. Mainly not treating Gen like the good friend he thought they were, but more like the villagers they didn't interact with on an everyday basis that seemed to appear and disappear with whatever day it was. It wasn't necessarily cruel, but it wasn't the same...and it bugged the crap out of him.

Not because he was into Senku, no. More because he liked Senku 100% as a friend! He thought they vibed well together, like two sides of the same coin in an amicable way. And maybe because this sort of thing was something he worried Schrödinger's Night Stand would cause in the ‘making things weird’ department.

See, Gen would be lying if he said he  _ hadn't _ been with girls before, back in the old days. He  _ was _ a celebrity, after all. Unfortunately, some were ones he'd go on to work with for something or other, so it'd be awkward no matter how far they did or didn't go.

_ And it's a good thing Tsukasa is the furthest thing from my type. And that male idol group with the cute smart one archetype never hit on me or– _

Damn it! He was thinking about dudes again! 

He groaned as he hit his head against a table. Since forever, he’d never really thought about this stuff, because of all the girls he either chased or was with. Then Senku had to go and ruin that! And now as far as he knew their friendship had gone back five steps.

Weird feelings or not, he still wanted to stay friends with Senku. It was...nice...having genuine friends around all the time. But how? Senku was away again getting lava rock with Magma and Chrome for the gunpowder needed for the bombs. (Gen had teased him, a little bitterly, about how he wasn't Senku's type but "I guess Magma might be,". Senku had glared intensely at him for that.)

"Hmm...I can't build him  _ another _ observatory..." Gen said to himself. Then it hit him. "He said he needed seashells!"

He ran up to Kinro. "Oh Kiiiiiiiiinrooooooo~!"

Kinro winced. "I feel like I'm going to regret whatever's going to come out of your mouth."

"I was wondering if I could borrow our favorite bodyguard Ginro for a while? Just to go down to the beach and get some seashells for Senku before he gets back..." Gen batted his eyes.

Kinro was either disturbed or flustered.

Ginro, however, perked up. "The beach!? Alri–!"

"No." Kinro said. "Senku and Kokuyo told us not to go too far from the village until the Tsukasa problem is solved. Only small groups can go. Rules are rules."

"Which is why I'm suggesting a small group! Me and your brother..."

"Can I go, too? I promise to be useful!" Suika said, running up to them.

"And, of course, Suika! I'd be lost without her..." Gen said, holding his arms out like he was Suika's lovely assistant, making the little girl's day.

Kinro thought it over. "No."

Ginro sulked. "I never get to go on any of the fun trips..."

"I'll go with you and Suika. I don't want anyone doing something boneheaded and sneaking off. Plus, with the eyes of science, I feel like I can least fend off any attacks long enough to protect you two, even if I'm not the best fighter in the village...." Kinro said, adjusting his glasses.

"Aw, come on, Kinro," Ginro said. "You're gre–"

"Also, I want to make sure Ginro is safe." Kinro added.

His younger brother looked touched. "Kinro..."

"KOHAKU!" Kinro shouted.

"Yeah!?" Kohaku replied, excusing herself from her conversation with her sister to run over there.

"Watch the bridge for me until we get back. Also, watch Ginro."

Kohaku nodded. "You can count on me, Kinro."

Gen swore he saw the faint whisper of a smile on Kinro's face as he nodded. He then started escorting Suika and Gen along.

"So...the beach..." Kinro said, trying to keep his tone even.

_ He also did this because he totally wanted to go to the beach, too, didn't he? _ Gen thought.

* * *

Nobody came to attack them on the beach, thankfully, so Gen and Suika were free to pick as many seashells as they wanted for Senku, Kinro keeping guard while digging his toes in the sand.

"I figured once we're back in the village, we'd sort these out in case we need a specific one..." Gen explained to Suika.

Suika nodded. "Do you think Senku will give us another one of those hand slaps when we give him the shells?"

"You mean a high five? Absolutely..." Gen said.

He imagined getting a high five. As far as he recalled, Senku had never given  _ him _ a high five. It might be nice. Then he pictured Senku's hand lingering on his, Senku’s fingers curling and weaving with his as he dipped and kissed Gen. They were bathed in the moonlight and the stars and–

"Gen! Why's your face all red?" Suika asked, holding a shell half the size of her head.

Gen snapped out of it and splashed his face with water. "Nothing! Just...thinking about that high five..."

_ Damn it...keep this up, Asagiri, and for once everyone will be reading  _ you  _ like a ook-bay! _

Kinro picked a shell up off the beach and placed it in Gen's basket. "To help you make up with Senku..." he whispered.

"We're not dating..." Gen whined. "Why do you think that?"

Kinro shrugged. "The tension."

He then abruptly left. Gen longed to drown.

* * *

They got back to the village pretty quickly, and Gen and Suika quickly went to the observatory and sorted each seashell into different jars, save one ‘really pretty one’ Suika found that Gen had put aside to give her as a thanks for all her hard work. "It's no high five, but you did give me that pretty flower crown..."

Suika stowed the shell away with a thank you and left. He then let out a yawn. "Yup. I've earned a nap after all this selflessness..." he said to himself before curling up on the floor.

* * *

_ In his dream, Gen was pressed down against the sofa in his old dressing room, making out with some old flame of his. ("Of course it's an ex. The human mind only ever uses faces it's seen for dreams.") They were both giggling as he tried to get his damn bow tie off. _

_ That's when Senku, flanked by Tsukasa and Kinro, burst in. He threw Gen's ex off of him and straddled him in her place. "Hey, Gen? Can I try a magic trick?" _

_ "Why are Tsukasa and Kinro here?" _

_ "Every trick needs an audience..." _

_ "What's the tr-" _

_ "Stealing a mentalist's heart. After all..." _

* * *

"YOU'RE AFTER MY OWN HEART, MENTALIST! Gathering me these shells!" Real Senku declared, waking Gen up. "There are some that'll come in way more handy later on, too! And we can get  _ soap _ !"

Gen bolted up. "YOU'RE BACK!?" He checked below the obi to make sure that...yeah, he was decent. He slapped his own face and pulled himself together. "Yup! Got them just for you, since I'm such a good iend-fray. Wouldn't you agree?"

Senku looked contemplative. He swore to himself.

"Oh come on! It's not a hard question. Even before the trip, you've been avoiding me! I'm starting to think it's deliberate..." Gen said. "Just throw me a bone..."

"Oh, trust me, you might be the first person I threw a bone..." Senku said.

Gen took a minute to catch the innuendo. "You were a virgin!? Or still are!?" he whispered loudly. He wasn't sure why he was surprised. But he didn't want to  _ assume _ , in the event they  _ had _ slept together. (Plus, with how blasé Senku was about the whole situation that morning, Gen never really considered it.)

Senku shrugged. "Yeah."

_ There he goes again!  _ Gen felt his heart drop. "So...you  _ are _ avoiding me because of that night..."

For once, Gen couldn't read Senku's face. Or maybe he didn't _ want  _ to read his face. Then Senku spoke.

"Hey, Gen..." he said, raising his hand.

Gen mimicked him. Senku gave him a quick high five and a smile.

"Good job. Now we just need one more thing..." he said, then left with the shells.

Gen felt a mix of emotions. On one hand, he felt crappy that Senku would avoid him over an ambiguous night of presumed bliss. On the other, he felt weirdly...maiden-ly? Like Senku had just given him a token of his affection with one dumb high five.

Gen shook his head. "Hold yourself to higher standards, Gen! Maybe if bribing him with gifts won't work...jealousy will. I'll just find someone new to stand right at the side of!"

  
Yeah, that'd show  _ him _ ...


	6. Oh Honey No

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Local boys have bad ideas.

"Hmm...who to make our new best friend..." Gen pondered, scanning the village.

"Not any of the guys I don't know enough to remember the names of...hmm...Kohaku and Ruri are cute, but nah..." Gen noticed Old Man Kaseki...and immediately avoided any eye contact with Old Man Kaseki. Nope. Nuh uh. Too weird.

"And the Sparkling Sisters are a bit... _ too _ thirsty and fickle for my tastes...hmm..." Gen's eyes caught sight of Magma. Magma  _ was _ easy for Gen to wrap around his finger...

...

"...Not in this life!"

Gen passed on Ginro, too, with a swift ‘no’. Same with Kohaku's Dad. Gen was quickly down to only two viable options, here: Chrome or Kinro.

Gen knew, tactically, Chrome was the ideal person to make Senku jealous...of their friendship. They were really good friends, and he knew it would cut Senku deep...

...but that was also why he didn't want to use Chrome. He wanted to make Senku jealous, yes, but he didn't want to be  _ too _ cruel. 

"So I guess we're bonding with Kinro. Well, maybe now he'll stop saying me and Senku are in love or whatever..." Gen said, strolling up to his temporary new ‘best friend’ with one of his sodas. "Hey, Kinro! You look tired from doing such an  _ amazing _ job protecting the village. Have one of these on e-may...~"

Gen handed Kinro the soda as he noticed Senku look their way. Senku scowled. Gen smirked and sidled up to Kinro's side, popping open one of the ‘Chrome Colas’ pointedly, with Chrome's crudely made blue label on full display as he took a swig.

_ Hmm...it's actually not that bad. Did he add another fruit to it for flavoring? Hmm...maybe I should've picked Chrome after all... _

Kinro looked suspicious, but popped open the cola. "Thanks," he said before taking a sip. His eyes lit up a little. He then downed the whole thing in several gulps. Gen was actually kind of awestruck.

"You had drinks like that in the past?" Kinro asked, putting his hands on Gen's shoulders.

Gen nodded. "All kinds. Some even had twenty-three flavors."

Kinro looked amazed. "That many!?"

Gen nodded. "Oh, Kinro, let me tell you all about it..."

* * *

Senku didn't fully get why he nearly snapped his charcoal for drawing blueprints in his grip from watching Gen basically flirt with Kinro. There was no way he was  _ jealous _ . Especially when Gen was drinking  _ Chrome's _ soda over his and  _ of course it had to be on purpose _ .

"Wow, Gen's sharing those little drink things you make special just for him. Didn't think he'd ever share one," Chrome observed. "He acts like a dragon with his gold when it comes to those things..."

"You know what a drag-?"

"The Hundred Tales." Chrome said before shouting to Gen: "Hey Gen! How's my cola? Is it Bad!?"

"Very Bad! Good job!" Gen called back before apparently asking to see Kinro's sword and flailing it around before Kinro stopped him. Then tried to show him how to use it properly by holding Gen and the sword like a guy would show his date how to swing a golf club. Only more deadly.

This time Senku jammed the charcoal hard into the paper he was using, creating a powder on the hide. He felt...territorial...

_ Avoiding him isn't working... _

* * *

Gen laughed a little too loudly at something Kinro said.

"It really wasn't a joke. I'm serious. I need to get back to my post. Rules are rules." Kinro said.

Gen pouted. "But I thought we were becoming friends...BEST friends..." Gen said loudly, glancing at Senku, who was watching like a hawk.

Kinro noticed. He sighed. "Gen, please don't involve me in your relationship troubles with Senku. I'm flattered, but it'd never work between us..."

"...What?"

"I mean, you're in love with Senku, I accept that. Besides, a guy like you and a guy like me? It'd burn out too quickly."

"What is even happening right now?"

Kinro had his hand on Gen's shoulder. "Besides, you and Senku are just...I'll say it: you're cute together. And he makes you happy. Don't worry about me, just go to him, embrace-"

Gen waved his arms in front of him. "KINRO!" 

"What?"

"I'm not...I just want Senku to spend time with me again, not  _ date _ me. Look, I'll make pretending to be my new best friend worth your whi-"

"Please, just talk to Senku. This isn't healthy..." Kinro said before sprinting away.

Gen glowered. "Well, damn it."

* * *

"And since  _ when  _ is Gen so buddy-buddy with Kinro, huh?" Senku said bitterly. "If he's trying to piss me off, I swear..."

"Dude, you've been avoiding him for almost a week or so. I think he just misses you. It's kinda sad he latched on to  _ Kinro _ , though." Chrome said. "You two have been acting weird ever since his birthday. Are you sure you two are good? Like, it's obvious you're into Gen..."

Senku blinked. "What?"

Chrome shrugged. "I mean, you're always within at least five feet of each other if possible. Your personalities are both alike, weirdly enough. He wanted to give you that bad observatory for your birthday and kinda confessed his love. I kinda thought you two were together by then..."

_ Really, Chrome?  _ You're _ lecturing  _ me  _ on not knowing I have feelings for someone? _

Still, he didn't want Gen to go ‘befriending’ other guys. Especially not if he decided to go for like...Magma. Or worse: what if he went all the way to Tsukasa's Empire and connected with Hyoga!? Or Tsukasa!?

Needless to say, Senku had to chalk up the feelings experiment as a failure. They were still there.

But that didn't necessarily make his feelings  _ romantic _ , did they? Could he even  _ do  _ romance?

...this called for another little ‘experiment’: a romance experiment. Would he and Gen be viable boyfriends?  _ Could _ Senku deal with a relationship with everything going on? And not have his brain addled by feelings?

Yes. Yeah, he could do this. He ran up to Gen, calling his name.

"What?" Gen said.

"I'm sorry. About avoiding you."

"Is it because I took your-?"

"Pfft! I don't care about that! It's not a big deal I lost  _ that _ . I just needed some space, I got it, and I'm good. And hey, if you want to crash up in the observatory with me..."

Gen hugged him. Senku seized up, blushing. "Yes, thank you!" Gen said before letting him go and walking away.

* * *

Gen smirked to himself, smug. _Aaaaaand_ _that's how it's done..._

* * *

Senku grinned wickedly. "Brace yourself, Mentalist. You're not gonna know what hit you!"


	7. If You Like It Then You Shouldn't Have Tried To Kill It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senku and Gen get closer...but someone else is nearby as well...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will I ever not be melodramatic? No.

It wasn't the same as his birthday.

The main difference was that instead of sharing a "bed", the two opted for separate sleeping bags. They laid down a respectable distance from each other, staring up at the stars.

"It's kinda funny..." Gen mused. "You never got to see as many stars in the night sky back in the old days..."

Senku smiled a little. "Yeah, not without a telescope. I can't tell you how many times I stared at them through mine growing up...best gift my dad ever gave me..."

Gen looked at him. "Aw, look at you being  _ sentimental _ ..."

Senku frowned. "Don't sound so smug!" He looked like he was going to pout. "I'm sure you have  _ something _ your parents gave you that stuck out..."

Gen thought about it. Sure enough, there was one thing...

_ "I saw you eyeing them at that shop, Gen. Figured it'd be something to do while you're under the weather." _

"A pack of trick playing cards. You know, specially made for beginners to do magic tricks? I stayed up all night just getting down the 'is this your card' trick..."

Senku snorted.

"Oh come on! I was a little id-kay!"

"No, it's just kinda funny to picture: the famous Gen Asagiri, struggling with the most basic of magic tricks..."

"Like you rolled out of the womb with the entire Periodic Table memorized..." Gen said, sulking.

"Nah. I memorized it when I was six." Senku said nonchalantly, scratching under his chin.

Gen sighed. "Is it sad that I can't tell if you're joking or honest?"

"Is someone losing their touch, Mentalist?" Senku teased.

Gen yawned. "No..."  _ You just gum up the works lately... _

* * *

The two continued to chat like it was an awkward middle school sleepover until Gen nodded off. Senku tossed and turned as he tried to settle in somehow. He eventually laid on his side and looked at the peacefully sleeping Gen. He had to admit, despite the asymmetrical aspects of Gen's face and hair...he was kinda pretty. Objectively. Very pretty.

Senku sighed. He was starting to get a little concerned about this whole "feelings" thing. Especially if he went through with getting closer to Gen. How would he react if something happened to him? He was cool under pressure when his friends were involved. At least, he was able to manage it. And he stood by his answer to "do you save yourself, your friend, or your lover?"

But the thing was, the "lover" was hypothetical at the time. What if it wasn't?

_ That's why you're experimenting to see if a romance with Gen is viable! _

Senku was pulled out of his mental tangent and watching Gen sleep by Gen's sudden snoring. Senku laughed. "Well, If he keeps that up, feelings won't be the problem. What am I going to do about the snoring?"

* * *

"How'd we end up like this  _ again _ !?" Gen exclaimed, being awkwardly spooned by a sleeping bag-clad Senku.

"You were snoring, I adjusted you, and since it was finally quiet in here, I immediately fell asleep right next to you. Simple!" Senku said gleefully.

Gen sat up and sighed. "At least we're dressed this time, right?"

Senku sat up beside him. "Right. I can't imagine if you scratched me with that stone on your thigh..." He said, looking at the back of his hand then at Gen's leg.

"Yeah, I dunno what to do about it..." Gen said, feeling weirdly self-conscious now.

"If we had the revival fluid, I could fix it. But Tsukasa has that AND the only cave I know for sure has nitric acid..."

"Nitric acid...that's what we need for gunpowder for..."

"For the bombs...yeah..."

"So we just need to find another cave, then."

"If it has the right components. I'm gonna get Chrome and Kohaku on that...maybe Suika, too."

Gen shrugged. "I'll help, too. Anything to keep Tsukasa from showing up a-"

Gen saw a flash of muscle and long brown hair.

"Gen?"

"Yeah. Anything to keep him from showing up again. I'm going to go search the woods right now."

"Really?"

Gen nodded, putting his poker face back on. "Anything to get out of manual abor-lay..."

Senku smirked. "Then I'll work you twice as hard tomorrow."

"You're an askmaster-tay."

"You're a ink-tway."

Gen's eyes widened, genuinely taken aback. "It's only cute when  _ I  _ do it, Senku..." He said, then left.

* * *

Senku then immediately started drawing blueprints for his next, more secret project, eager to jump ahead of Gen. "He won't have one millimeter of a clue what's in store for him..."

* * *

Gen ran through the woods until he hit a wall named Tsukasa. "You know, you're really making me concerned for Village Security. I can understand you slipping past Ginro, but  _ Kinro _ ?"

Tsukasa just glared at him.

Gen sulked. "Damn, you are smarter than your army of gargoyles. You didn't fall for the obvious bait. Silly me."

"You can't butter me up, Gen." Tsukasa said.

"Ew. I thought that was Hyoga's job."

Tsukasa gripped Gen's clothes. "I came here to give a warning: Stay away from Senku."

Gen smirked. "What? Feeling bad about trying to kill him?"

"I'm serious. You're  _ not _ serious about him. You're just an opportunist, Gen. We both know that."

"Like you'd treat him better? You're  _ enemies _ , Tsukasa. You're trying to keep him from the thing he loves most.  _ I _ want to see how far he goes," Gen said, really trying to push all Tsukasa's buttons to throw him off. "And  _ oh _ how far we went that one night..."

Tsukasa clenched his fist.

"Should I tell you how it went down?" Gen said, prepared to weave whatever torrid narrative would piss Tsukasa off just enough without making him murder Gen. "It was iss-blay..."

"Shut up."

"Why? Because _ you _ want to monopolize Senku? How hypocritical of our resident Smash The Rich strongman."

Tsukasa swung at Gen, who dodged just barely in time. Tsukasa's fist obliterated the tree behind Gen, revealing a small cluster of Stone People. Gen gasped.

Tsukasa grabbed Gen by the collar, holding him close in a way that prevented Gen from wiggling free. Tsukasa smashed a statuized man. Gen flinched. He always hated this part of "being" in The Empire of Might.

"STOP!" Gen shouted, avoiding looking at one in particular.

"Swear to me you'll stay away from him!" Tsukasa said, prepared to smash the next.

"And then what? You're still not gonna have him!"

Tsukasa smashed the statue and squeezed Gen.

"If you weren't so all or nothing, he'd probably be living in your quarters under piles of your pelts!" Gen added, wheezing. Talking was still the only weapon he had, and he hadn't worn it out yet.

Tsukasa's eyes locked onto the one statue Gen wanted him to ignore. He approached. Gen flailed. Then he noticed something. "SENKU-!"

"I don't want to hear his name out of your mouth!" Tsukasa said, preparing to smash again.

"Put him down, Tsukasa."

Tsukasa turned to see Senku. The primate was wide eyed.

Senku...seemed a bit taken aback, too.

Tsukasa dropped Gen. "Senku..."

Gen scrambled to grab the statue and drag her away, looking back at just the right time to see Senku and Tsukasa lock eyes. Gen squeezed his shut and ignored the foul feeling in the pit of his stomach that turned his throat to acid. It wasn't the time for that. He needed to-aha! A cave and some fallen trees and branches! Perfect! He set the statue down on some leaves and got to work trying to camouflage the cave.

Then he heard a drip.

* * *

Meanwhile, Senku and Tsukasa continued to heatedly stare at each other. Tsukasa gently reached out, as if to attempt stroking Senku's cheek. Senku's breath hitched and he could feel himself blush before avoiding the touch, bewildered. He hadn't counted on seeing Tsukasa, let alone...alone. But he felt like something was off with Gen, and it bugged him so much he followed. He'd been too late to save two of the statues, but in time to save at least one and Gen, and that was enough.

And Tsukasa's behavior right now was not something he'd factored in. Especially with his current plans for Gen...

Tsukasa tilted his head. He looked thoughtful. "It doesn't have to be this way, Senku."

"It's the only way it can be, to bring mankind back."

Tsukasa, surprisingly, didn't attack, instead opting to leap away, leaving Senku confused. Until he remembered: "Gen!"

* * *

The two ran into each other, Gen holding cupped hands filled with liquid. "Senku! I found a cave, do you think it's...?"

Senku looked at the fluid. He shook his head. "It's just condensation. If it were nitric acid, your hands would be stained yellow. This is nothing but water."

Gen sighed and let the water splash onto the grass. "Damn it. I really thought I found what we needed..." Gen said, looking back at what, upon closer inspection, was a camouflaged cave.

"Not bad, Mentalist. You hid the statue–"

"–in there. Yes. I couldn't let him smash her.  _ Especially _ not her." Gen said.

Senku smirked. "Nicely done..." He then looked concerned. "...he didn't hurt anything, did he?" He said, lightly touching Gen's arm.

Gen was flustered, trying to get the cave out of his peripheral vision and the sense of déjà vu out of his head. "I'm fine."

"Good. Let's get back to the village..." Senku said, grabbing his hand. "And I don't want you leaving the village again unless it's with me. Understood?"

As Senku led them back to the village, Gen's heart thumped, making him almost forget his... jealousy?...over what happened with Senku and Tsukasa.

"Understood..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact when I pictured/wrote the Senku/Tsukasa reunion I was lowkey thinking of this: https://youtu.be/ELQfKNICgoM?t=12


	8. Life Could Be A Dream, Senku

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senku takes a nap. Gen works through some stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a bit late. Weird life adjustment stuff. Enjoy.

_ "I missed you." _

_ "Yeah, it's been a while since you crashed my dreams..." Senku said as Dream Tsukasa nuzzled into his neck. _

_ "I want to be with you." _

_ Senku stroked his hair. "Yeah..." _

_ His eyes darted up to his lab table. There was Gen, sitting on top of it, watching him. Frowning at him. Judging him. _

_ "Don't look at me like that..." Senku said. _

_ Dream Gen hopped off the table and left in a huff. _

_ Senku sighed. "I'm not the mentalist, here! Did you want a turn, or–? Mmmph!" _

_ Dream Tsukasa, apparently, was tired of Senku talking and proceeded to kiss him. _

* * *

"You've really been burning the midnight oil these last few days, haven't you?" Gen said.

Senku was currently asleep and drooling at his work table in the lab, splayed across his blueprints and papers just enough to hide their contents from anyone who might try to look at them. You couldn't tell what went to what long-term project.

Gen knew Senku had a full plate lately: there was everything they needed to find or create for the bombs, trying to find a cave where they had nitric acid (or at least enough bats), and whatever he snuck off to do at night when he thought Gen was asleep in his new little pelt nest. It honestly worried Gen a little. The guy was gonna crash, and it wouldn't be pretty.

So, of course, when he noticed Ginro approaching with a stick, some charcoal, and an aura of mischief, Gen shooed him away.

"Aw, come oooooon...it'll be funny!" Ginro said, trying to implement what Gen thought were supposed to be puppy eyes.

"No way! Senku needs his sleep." Gen said, looking back at him. Senku managed to create a snot bubble. It was gross yet somewhat adorable. In like, a gremlin way.

Ginro looked confused. "You two are acting so weird, lately," he said, then shrugged. "Must be an old world thing."

Gen shook his head and went to get a cola. As he turned to go, he noticed Senku had something under what was, for all intents and purposes, a tarp. Gen had to admit, he was a bit curious as to what it was. Especially when Senku would come back from working on it, covered in smudges with stuff stuck to him. Again, weirdly cute...

...why was he strangely okay with admitting that? He...he meant that in a non-toxic masculinity way, right? Not like, the  _ gay _ way?

Oh well. He went to pull on the tarp...

"Muh...Kinro don't go ride off with Gen into the sky on your motorcycle...I haven't invented that, yet..." Senku said in his sleep, startling Gen away from the tarp.

* * *

_ At this point in Senku's dream, Gen and Tsukasa were now playing tug-of-war with Senku like toddlers. _

_ "Mine!" Tsukasa growled. _

_ "Mine~" Gen said, more directed to Senku. _

_ Senku sighed. He didn't need this crap right now... _

_ ... especially the part where Gen and Tsukasa tossed Senku aside to make out with each other instead. He definitely didn't need that. _

* * *

Senku's happy noises quickly devolved into nightmare noises. Gen immediately ran to his side and started smoothing his hair. "Shhshhshh...it's okay..."

_ Why am I talking to him like a horse? _

Gen took off his outer jacket and threw it over Senku's shoulders like a blanket, only to realize how close he was to him.

Like, so close he could kiss him...

_ No! I don't wanna kiss guys! I'm–! I'm... _

Senku smiled softly in his sleep. Gen blushed.

_...I'm a mess... _ Gen thought as he contemplated if a kiss to the temple would be creepy or not...

...then he heard a small gasp.

Gen turned to see Suika standing in the doorway, covering her mouth. Gen covered his, too, so as to not shout. He then quickly ushered Suika away. "What are you doing here?" He whispered.

"I wanted to tell Senku that I couldn't find any more caves near the village, then I saw you being all lovey-dovey with Senku..."

"Oh no, I wasn't–! It's not what it looked like!" Gen said, flailing his hands in front of him.

_ Sweet Suika, not you, too! _

"Really? Cuz it looked like you were looking at him like Chrome looks at Ruri when he thinks no one sees him."

Gen felt called out. "I really...?" He sighed, sliding down to sit on the ground. He covered his face. "Guess nothing gets past the Great Detective Suika..."

Suika made a proud noise.

"...I think I might. But it's just...I shouldn't..."

"Why not?"

_ This is how low I've fallen: venting to a small child in melon mask glasses... _ "Because for as long as I can remember, I've liked girls. I  _ still  _ like girls. But when I look at Senku it's...the same, but a little different. Like, the liking is there in a different, Senku-shaped...shape...thing...does that make sense?"

Suika nodded. "So you might be bi."

Gen's eyes flew open. "How do you know what ‘bi’ is?"  _ Aren't you a little young to know? Oh no, how bad is our generation gap? _

"It comes up in The Hundred Tales! ‘The Tale of the Secret People!’ It's good. Maybe you should ask Ruri to tell it to you! She tells it better than I do..." Suika said.

Gen chuckled. "I should've guessed. And sure, I'll go talk to Ruri. She should be..."

"Um, actually...she snuck off with Chrome to ‘see what he does’ while he looks for that thing Senku needs..." Suika said. "She won't be back until later."

"Of course she won't. Well, guess I'll get back to guarding Senku...thanks Suika..." Gen said with a smile.

Suika lit up before bouncing away. Gen chuckled and went to see Senku, only to find him awake and holding Gen's coat over his shoulders. He seemed to be contemplating it. He then noticed Gen, then his table covered in stuff, then rudely shoved Gen away. "OUT!" he shouted, then pulled a curtain over the entrance.

_ Since when has that had a curtain? _ Gen thought.

* * *

Senku held the coat closer. It almost reminded him of the end of his dream: Gen draped over him and holding him, whispering sweet mathematical nothings into his ear as he worked.

Senku groaned. "What's wrong with me?"


	9. Bros Helping Bros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senku vents to his crafting buddies about the last few weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry this was a week late. I had a lot of stuff going on that needed my attention before uploading, so I opted to prioritize them instead as I kept adjusting to current situations. I'm going to try and keep my uploads as consistent as I can, but there is a chance there may be a couple of delays for a while, so bear with me. I hope this is worth the wait and you enjoy! ^_^

"I'll tell you what!"

Senku jumped a little, wanting to yeet away the evidence of him having  _ feelings _ while at the same time refusing to part with it. "Hey, Old Man Kaseki. Is Chrome not back yet?"

"Oh, he is. He's just getting scolded by Jasper and Turquoise," Kaseki said, moving aside the curtain just enough to view the outside.

Senku peeked outside. Yup, they were ranting at him. And Kohaku's Dad was getting in on it. "For what?"

"Apparently he let Ruri tag along with him to explore that cave you guys explored..."

"That treacherous bastard..." Senku said. They'd promised they'd _ both  _ go loot it for more treasure! No love interests were allowed!  _ Magma _ was barely allowed! Maybe he'd have to retaliate one day by bringing G–wait...

Speaking of the devil, he was chatting with Ruri, who seemed to be struggling a bit with her small basket of ( _ill-gotten_ _and_ _undeserved!_ ) minerals. ( _She probably can't even tell diamond from zirconia!_ ) Senku observed intently, pretending to be taking notes as Gen offered to hold it for her. She handed it to him, only for Gen to fall over, underestimating the weight of the basket.

Senku laughed.  _ Adorable. _

Chrome managed to get away from his elders to sneak into the lab. He set down the basket and a jar with a lid. He was about to set down the spelunking equipment too when he saw Senku glaring at him. Chrome tilted his head. "What?"

"You hussy." Senku said, half-snarking, half-teasing.

"Oh, come on! She just wanted to help! Besides, I got us some bad new materials on top of the stalactite juice," Chrome said.

Senku inspected both. "Well, the good news is: you're forgiven. The bad news is: this isn't quite what we need, either. Also,  _ please  _ never call it 'stalactite juice' again."

"Damn it!" Chrome said. "I  _ really _ wanted to get started on explosions from underwater!"

"I'm disappointed, too, Chrome..." Kaseki said. "I think the only one not completely disappointed is Senku, since it means we get to keep working on the doohickey so he can make those things to impress his boyfriend."

" _ He's not my boyfriend! _ " Senku protested.

"Dude, you're wearing his coat thing..." Chrome said. 

"Honestly, they're as bad as you and Ruri..." Kaseki added, making Chrome blush.

Senku sighed. "I'm...just borrowing it for presentation purposes."

"Nonsense! That boy's been gumming up your brain since his birthday!" Kaseki said. "I know you're not always the best Craftsman, but you've been making what looks like a lot of mistakes, according to the blueprints!"

Senku sighed. "I don't know why. I know I like guys. To the point where, if I'm being honest, Chrome, the idea of being married to Ruri longer than five minutes would have made me break out in hives."

"Good. She's not for you." Chrome said simply.

"But for some reason with Gen it's different! The guys thing, I mean. I don't  _ know _ how romance works. I'm surrounded by idiots who can't spit it out to girls who obviously like them back–"

("She likes me back?" Chrome mouthed to himself.)

"–my dad was single as long as I was with him, and let's face it, I don't give one millimeter of a crap about anyone else's love life..."

"Eeeeexcept Gen," Chrome teased with a smug grin.

_ "And  _ **_Tsukasa_ ** ... _ "  _ Senku could almost hear Gen bitterly note.

"Yeah, I guess. I dunno if it's just because we...spend a lot of time together or what. I'm not great at this emotional stuff. It's not exactly...me. I can tell you all about the science behind it, though. The chemicals. The evolutionary stuff. Hell, if you wanted, I can even tell you all the ways two dudes can get it on. Like we can-"

"We get the picture!" his crafting buddies exclaimed, not wanting to know what secrets Senku had looked up on a curious whim that one time at his dad's university's library.

"Damn it, I'm rambling! Point is that–"

"You're a teenager." Kaseki stated.

Senku paused. "I mean...I guess. Kinda had the old adolescence interrupted by the whole ‘turning to stone, trying not to die, and getting stuck in a war for the fate of humanity and progress’, you know."

"It makes sense you're confused. But I'm also sure a smart guy like you can figure out what to do about what you're feeling. These whatever-they-ares you're making seem like a step..." Kaseki said.

"Yeah, you’ve figured out how to make all our totally bad science stuff! This is nothing!" Chrome said.

Senku smiled. "Thanks..." Something hit him. "Ruri wouldn't happen to know any stories that could have convenient messages from my dad, would she?"

"Well, there is the one about the boy who liked boys but never told anyone..." Chrome noted, finger under his chin.

Senku's eyes widened. "He...had a story like that?"

Both of Senku's companions nodded. Senku, feeling some emotions bubbling up, immediately shoved them down in favor of Science.

"Well, I'll ask her later! For now, let's get this thing done! The glue is working perfectly and we finally got the ink right, now we just need the laminate!"

Chrome and Kaseki didn't miss a beat, eager to get back to making stuff instead of talking about Senku's Gay Crisis. "I still don't get how we're gonna make the paper things small, though..." Chrome noted.

"We can't chisel it..." Kaseki added.

"That's why we're doing a quick project: inventing scissors..." Senku said, pointing to the image on his road map.

The Crafting Buddies got excited.

* * *

After getting a lot of progress done, Senku finally made his way to Ruri's temple.

Gen exited just as Senku arrived. Gen seemed a bit flustered to see him before smiling.

"My coat looks good on you," he said with a wink.

Senku's face felt hot, having not realized that he was  _ still _ wearing the thing, and he threw it at the laughing Gen.

"Cute..." Gen said fondly. Then seemed to realize that he said it and fled with the coat.

_ Weirdo. _ Senku thought, continuing towards the doorway. Ruri was waiting with a knowing smile.

"Let me guess: you're here about Tale 69? The Secret People?"

  
Senku's desire to introduce his face to his palm was almost insurmountable.  _ Damn it, Dad... _


	10. Advice From A Dead Dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think the title explains itself: Senku and Gen consult a little tale from Byakuya and come to some conclusions.

A while earlier, Gen snorted. "He numbered it  _ that _ ? Eriously-say?" He shook his head. "His dad sure had a sense of humor..."

"What's so funny about 69?" Ruri asked.

"Nothing, nothing." Gen said. 

With a shrug, Ruri sat down. Gen sat down as well. "Why do you want to hear this particular one? Is there another hidden message?"

Gen shook his head. "I just have it on good authority that I should listen to a dead man."

Ruri nodded, and began her tale.

* * *

"Long ago, there was a man with a son. The man loved his son very much. However, the son seemed to harbor a secret: he wanted to be with boys instead of girls. The man didn't notice at first. The secret could easily be chalked up to just being young. But over time it became apparent. Mainly through little things, like a strange reaction to a magician and a fighter..."

* * *

Gen found himself weirdly flustered. He’d known Senku had known who he was, yes. He’d even known that Senku had read his book. But he hadn't actually thought that Senku  _ watched _ his shows, too. For some reason (that he was starting to kind of understand) that made him feel...happy. Like there was a warmth in his chest.

Then he realized the story alluded to the time he had had Tsukasa on the show, and he felt jealous that Senku might've been more fixated on his former guest than him.  _ All that guy has is muscles and some brains and ‘we could've been friends...or more…’ going for him! I've been _ there  _ for him! We have chemistry and...! _

__ It started to click for him.

* * *

"...and the time he snuck into a library and looked at some possibly age-inappropriate books."

* * *

Senku stifled a groan. He could practically hear his father rise from the grave and say, "Yeah, you little gremlin. I found out about you popping into the Sex Ed-type books in the library and mostly looking through the gay stuff. Your fatal mistake was checking the library at  _ the place I'm employed at where everyone knows us. _ "

He couldn't believe it, shade from his own father, passed down for generations. How cruel.

* * *

"The father, of course, was surprised, and unsure of how to broach the subject. He wasn't like his son. So, he decided to do some research. He found out about a lot of people who were like his son. Gay men, who were men in love with men. Lesbians, women who loved women. Bisexuals, who liked at least two of them. Pansexuals, whose attractions were a full spectrum. Asexuals, who didn't have much in the way of attractions..."

(This part went on for a while, listing several gender identities and any sexual identities that might've been neglected, but the author didn't want to be here all day and apologizes.)

"...And they were all good, and okay. They were people just like anyone else. Some were bad, some were good, and it had little to do with if they loved the other genders or their own. Some were living in secret like his son, due to the hardships they faced from disapproving people..."

* * *

Senku shrugged. Yeah, there were bigots and assholes when it came to gays existing. And he knew that while it could be a lot worse to be a gay guy, and was lucky Japan wasn't one of those places where being gay was still illegal, in general it could have been a lot better back in his day.

But that wasn't why he never formally came out aside from accidentally telling Taiju and Yuzuriha back then. Nah, it was more that he didn't think it mattered if he was gay, and that it shouldn't matter. He wanted people more focused on what he could do, not who he wanted to do.

Still, he appreciated the sentiment.

* * *

"...others were openly who they were, and some didn't even know they were who they were..."

* * *

Gen was partially deep in thought throughout the story. He was sort of appraising his entire life, trying to look at it through a potential bi lens. He thought of all the times a guy made his heart pound and how he had waved it off because he was either attracted to a girl at the time or  _ with _ a girl at the time. After all, he liked girls, why would he like guys? That was just admiration, friendship, and possible starvation for affection...

No, no. It was making a lot more sense this way, now. And...he was kinda okay with it.

* * *

"The man researched what he could so that he and his son could talk about it, someday. He wanted to be supportive and someone his son could trust to talk to. He even planned to broach the subject after a trip..."

"But he never saw his son again..." Senku finished.

Ruri nodded, understanding the subtext of the tale.

"So, the man had only one thing to do: pass on that it was all okay to future generations. So that maybe someday, his son could live in a world where he didn't have to be a secret person. He could be free to pursue who he wanted. Someone who would make him happy and be by his side."

Senku's mind briefly went to Gen, looking at the stars in the recently-built observatory the night of Senku's birthday. He felt something click.

"He hoped his son could live in a world where people were kinder, and would be his friend regardless of his secret. And maybe, just maybe, other people like his son would realize they were okay, too. And not have to be secret, either..."

* * *

Gen sat there quietly for a moment. Ruri tilted her head. "Gen? You okay?" She said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Gen nodded. "Yeah. I'm absolutely fine. In fact, I feel better than I have in a while. Thank you, for that."

Ruri nodded with a soft smile. "You're welcome, Gen."

Gen got up to leave. Ruri stood up as well. "By the way, Gen..."

"Hmm?"

"Good luck with my ex-husband," she said with a wink.

Gen chuckled. "Thanks," he said with a wink of his own before turning towards the doorway. As he made his exit, he bumped into Senku on the stairs. His heart pounded when he saw Senku wearing his jacket. It was so...low-key domestic. Shaking that off, he tried flirting to test the waters. Something simple. A comment on how good Senku looked in his jacket...and how cute he was when he got flustered. It felt...good. Natural. But he did pull back after that. Didn't want to overdo it and end up in a situation he wasn't ready for.

_ Well, what do you know?  _ he thought, hugging his coat to himself before putting it back on. It had a very sterile, clean, slightly chemical smell on it, now. It smelled like  _ Senku _ .

He loved that.

* * *

"...Thanks, Ruri...I didn't know I needed to hear that..." Senku said, turning to leave. "I think I need to take a walk, now."

"Oh! Senku! There's a bit just for you, too!"

Senku turned back. "Eh?"

"Senku, no matter who you're interested in...for Pete's sake, kid, be safe and wrap it up. I have no idea where  _ any _ of these boys have been and I can't guarantee it was in good places. Especially stone ones. That's all your old man asks, don't make me haunt you."

Senku actually turned a bit red. "...Thank you, Ruri..."

"None of the priestesses have ever deciphered what that means," Ruri said, folding her arms as she seemed to go into deep thought. "We assume it's about your heart, but we don't get what ‘wrap it up’ means. It seems like a metaphor, but..."

"THANK YOU, RURI, I'M LEAVING NOW! Yeesh, you and Chrome  _ are _ perfect for each other..."

* * *

There was a new stone in the cemetery to memorialize the founders. People missed the time capsule and wanted something new to pay respects to. It was a nice stone, and aside from looking less worn than the others, it fit in well.

Gen approached it. "Thanks, Mr. Ishigami," he said, weirdly uncomfortable with calling him by his first name or anything. It felt like trying to first name his boyfriend's father, even though he and Senku weren't boyfriends and said dad was centuries dead. "I think I  _ am _ bi. I'm still feeling out my feelings, but it, well, feels right.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to date your son or make an honest man of him yet, though. I really do like him, and I do want to be with him, but I need a little time before I make any commitments. It's new, ya know?" Gen said with a shrug. "Today I only just tried actual flirting." He chuckled. He felt a little ridiculous, but saying everything out loud made him feel better.

"But I can assure you once I'm fully out and ready, if Tsukasa wants Senku, he's going to have to peel my dead body off Senku, first," he said, some steel to his voice. "If he wanted him, he should have stayed and helped him."

Gen became cheery again. "Well, good one-sided talk! Bye!" Gen said, leaving some nightshade at the stone and scurrying off.

If Byakuya were still around, he would've sighed and said "Yup, he's definitely the kind of boy who'd  _ want _ to date Senku..."

* * *

Senku stomped on the rock with his foot. "USE PROTECTION!? SERIOUSLY!? WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU PASS THAT DOWN!? WHO DO YOU THINK I AM, DAD!? AND DID YOU  _ HAVE  _ TO TELL THEM ABOUT THE LIBRARY THING!?" he shouted, looking like a beet between his hair and his face. He groaned and plopped on the ground.

"But I also kinda want to thank you, Dad. I guess it's nice, knowing you knew and were cool with it..." He stood up. "And, good news, old man: I'm going to ask Gen out. I just need to run two more tests to see if he's down. I think you'd like him, Dad," he said, stretching out. "And it'll be easier, because I don't have to do that awkward ‘bring him home and introduce you two’ junk. Though, it is kinda funny that we both fell for celebrities, huh? Maybe we do share DNA after all..."

Senku reached into one of his belt pouches, feeling his gift for Gen. He smirked. "I just need to give him this."

After all, Gen was clearly flirting with him, the probability he liked him back or not was ten billion to one. And he liked those odds.


	11. Every Shot You Don't Take

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senku gives Gen something. :3c

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for inconsistency again. Time isn't real.

"Hey, Gen."

Gen turned his attention from the map Senku had to keep track of where all the caves were. "Senku! I have good news and bad news on the caves..."

"Oh really, now?"

"The bad news is, we're having a terrible time finding a suitable cave OR luring enough bats nearby to get even close to enough nitric acid to make all the gunpowder we'd need for the bombs."

"Damn it..." Senku said.

"But...I did make a call to Taiju and Yuzuriha a while ago..." Gen said with a smirk.

"You what?"

"You heard me. I took some initiative! And they recently called back and said they've been skimming some of the nitric acid we need for the powder. We'll hopefully have enough to make some bombs within a week or two," Gen continued to grin like a Cheshire Cat.

_ I'd like to see Tsukasa do  _ that _. _

Senku looked stunned before smirking back. "Nicely done, Mentalist! You've been really dedicated to this project, lately."

"Trust me, I'm over being accosted by him in the woods  _ and _ you two making heated eyes at each other," Gen said, waving his hand dismissively and trying to downplay his feelings on the latter.

Senku blinked. "You really are jealous of Tsukasa, aren't you, Gen?"

Gen froze. He blushed slightly, his cheeks tinting pink. So, Senku could read Gen just as well as Gen could read him... "Whatever gave you that idea?"

Senku smirked and dug around in his pouch, walking over to the tarp-covered thing. "You don't have to worry. Tsukasa doesn't get presents like  _ this! _ " he said, removing the tarp and revealing...

"...a printing press?"

"Yup, with this baby we can print out all sorts of stuff, like enough copies of the instructions for our projects to keep everyone on track. Or maps of the area. Or we can just introduce manga to everyone..." Senku said.

"Ooookay...that's cool, but how is this a present for  _ me _ , exactly? I know I wrote some books, but to be honest I'm starting to be really  _ embarrassed _ about those. They were  _ really _ slapped together without a lot of thought. Plus, there was some pop psychology stuff my editors made me slip in, and they simply  _ had _ to have me talk about  _ Freud _ ..." Gen said. He remembered getting a drunk rant from his mother about how any son of hers could  _ talk _ about that hack, let alone  _ neutrally _ . "And didn't you once tell me to my face that they were 'trash'? Why would you want to enable me to...?"

"There's something else you can print from a printing press besides books and papers, Gen. It takes a bit more work, but..."

Senku presented Gen with what was in his pocket, in it's own leather pouch tied together with a leather strap bow.

Gen gasped as he removed the contents, suddenly feeling a warmth much like he felt years ago when receiving a similar present.

"A...deck of cards..." Gen said, running his fingers on the roughly ‘laminated’ cards. It appeared to be a full set, judging by the weight and thickness of the deck. When he looked at the back, he saw Senku had even included the joker cards. And that said jokers looked like Ginro, eliciting a laugh from Gen. Their faces were a bit crudely drawn, but there was an adorable charm to them. But the backing was especially notable: it was purple with a logo that looked like black nightshade and had his name on it. "You didn't brand it after yourself this time..."

Senku shook his head. "They're not exactly for me."

"How...how did you make this?"

"Simple: we worked out paper, created colored ink, built a printing press, printed the fronts and backs, glued the fronts and backs together, cut them up, and then I had Kaseki and Chrome lacquer them up to waterproof them and put them in the pouch once they were set, so..."

"So they wouldn't mess with your lacquer allergy..." Gen said, caressing the cards with his thumb. "Senku this...this is the nicest thing anyone has ever made for me..." He swiftly stored the cards away in his coat and hugged him. "Thank you."

* * *

Senku allowed himself to hug back. "No problem, Mentalist..." He said, enjoying the hug despite not being a huggy guy. He even almost wanted to nuzzle into Gen and just forget the world outside his sweet and somewhat floral scent for a while.  _ He really does gum up the works...but sometimes I don't mind it... _

Gen eventually let him go. He chuckled nervously. "I'll have to show you all some tricks someday..." He was back to his old self quickly. "Luckily, I'm a lot better at cards than just some 'is this your card' parlor trick, now..."

"I'd hope so, Mr. Had-A-TV-Show."

Gen smiled at him. "I'll make sure you have a front row seat," he said, winking as he turned to leave.

Senku frowned as his heart pounded.  _ Tell him now! _

He grabbed Gen's hand. Gen turned to face him. At that moment, the cat got Senku's tongue.  _ No, no! I'm not gonna subject myself to years of not spitting it out crap like Taiju or Chrome! _ He thought. Then impulse and his direct, to-the-point nature won out.  _ Screw it, we probably did worse before, didn't we? And it  _ was  _ going to be the last test... _

That's when Senku kissed Gen.

* * *

Gen froze in shock. His head was spinning.  _ Senku...what? He...lips...me...how...? _

Part of him wanted to kiss back, to hold him. But he was too overwhelmed. It was so sudden.  _ This _ was so sudden. He wasn't even completely settled into his bi-ness! He hadn't _ told  _ Senku he was bi!

As this kiss continued for what felt like forever, it started to spark memories.

The awful taste of brandy and cola on his breath.

Sloppily kissing each other.

Senku and Gen, equally wasted, fumbling with each other's–

Gen broke away. It was too much. Too fast.

Senku, after a brief moment of processing, and touching his own lips, seemed to snap back into Scientist Mode. "Interesting."

"'Interesting'? That's all you have to say? You attack my mouth with a kiss, and it's just  _ interesting _ !? What the hell, Senku!?" Gen snapped.

"I thought that–"

"I don't think you  _ were _ !"

"It was an  _ experiment _ , Gen! A test to see if you had feelings for me!"

"So that's all everything was? An experiment?" Gen said, a hurt growing in the pit of his stomach.

Senku looked like he was mulling over what his next words would be. Odd for him...and not the response Gen wanted. He wanted to hear an emphatic, immediate "no".

" _ Now _ you choose to be tactful!?" Gen said. 

"I'm trying to think of how to explain my thought process!"

Gen folded his arms and scowled at Senku.

Senku groaned. "You're impossible right now..."

"Well, if you want to ‘experiment’, go find Tsukasa! I'm sure you'd both be happy." Gen said, wanting to cut deep in his anger and frustration.

Senku cut deeper. "Maybe I will!"

Gen deflated.  _ He wouldn't, would he? _

Trying to save face, Gen started towards the door. "Then go ahead, see if I care..." Gen said, storming away towards the cave he hid the statue in. He flopped against her lap carefully before crying.

Boys were stupid.

* * *

Senku had his head on his work table. He pounded his fist against it. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

* * *

What neither boy (and somehow none of the villagers) noticed was Homura on the roof of the building, listening in just enough. She hurried back to Hyoga and Tsukasa with the news.

"I think we might have an opportunity! Senku and Gen might've just broken up, I think..."

Tsukasa's eyes widened. He gripped the arm of his chair.

Hyoga seemed to smile under his mask. "Excellent! Their disarray is a proper opportunity to strike!"

"I have an idea..." Tsukasa said. "To take advantage of this..."

"Oh? Then what do you need me for?" Hyoga said, pleasantly enough to somewhat hide his clear irritation.

"We have reason to believe that they're going after the revival fluid, right?" Tsukasa said. "Why not let them come for it, and use that to stop them? You know they'll send Senku out. He can't resist being there."

"Will we be killing Senku?"

  
"No!...I'd tried killing him once. I  _ know _ that should've killed him. It didn't take. Who knows what other tricks he has? No, I have a different plan..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "This'll be mostly crack!" I said. "There won't be THAT many feels!" I said.


	12. I'll Be A Lonely One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are fighting!
> 
> Also breakthroughs...and danger...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I had a consistent schedule? Me neither.

They hadn't really spoken in a week.

Gen mostly stayed either in the cave with that statue he seemed so fond of, or over at Kohaku and Ruri's. If he and Senku interacted at all, it was brief, curt, and strictly business. He'd even taken what stuff he'd slowly started keeping in the observatory with him. That somehow hurt the most. Senku held onto the little hope he got that all wasn't lost. Especially when he noticed Gen never gave him the cards back. (Not that he seemed to use them, either.)

Senku hated every moment of it.

One day, while working on improving everyone's light bulbs to distract himself (since the bombs were at a standstill and Senku didn't want to commit himself to any more big projects until the nitric acid was acquired), Senku was stopped by Ginro of all people.

"What do you want?"

"Senku, can you please just be friends with Gen again?" Ginro asked. "It's really awkward for everyone to have you two fighting, on top of how weird you two acted before whatever happened..."

Senku shot Ginro a look. Then he started grumbling "Oh, we're not fighting! I've just redevoted myself solely to science! After all,  _ science _ doesn't send you mixed messages, refuse to talk to you, or even murder you if you play your cards right!" Senku said, a bit unhinged as he went off into a manic rant about science, men, and space.

Ginro activated his secret technique. "KINRO! KOHAKU! HE'S SPEAKING IN TONGUES AND IT'S REALLY REALLY SCARY!"

Senku ignored him as he kept working.

Kohaku sighed. "Seriously, Senku, get your crap together. I'm surprised you haven't just decided to live in the lab, now..."

"That's a  _ great _ idea!" Senku said gleefully.

Kohaku smacked him upside the head.

Kinro stepped up to him, putting his hands on his shoulders. "Senku. Listen to me. Talk to Gen. I'll make it happen. You two together brings me unprecedented joy and your fighting has left me emotionally devastated. I've been driven to a tear."

Kohaku nodded. "You hurt Kinro's feelings. How will you live with yourself?"

"Yeah! I've never seen him so invested in two guys being friends!" Ginro added from behind Kohaku.

Senku groaned. "Look, I don't get why you're  _ all _ so invested in this..."

"We just want you and Gen to both be okay. You're our friends...and part of this village," Kohaku said.

Senku put his work down and flopped back in his chair. "Look, contrary to popular belief, I'm human. A boy hurt my feelings, and turns out I don't  _ like _ it when boys I like hurt my feelings. And we're ten billion percent behind on mines. There's nothing more to explain..."

Kinro awkwardly patted his shoulder. Senku looked at Kinro in confusion.

"I'm sure you'll make a breakthrough..." Kinro said.

Senku gently removed Kinro's hand. "Thanks..."

"Did he at least see what you did with the King of Hearts card?"

"How do you know about that card?" Senku said, in a tone that hinted that he knew damn well how he knew.

Kinro coughed. "Well...it wasn't because me and Ruri were outside the lab and tried to subtly get you to do that using something Gen called "subliminal messaging"..."

"Well, you're lucky I thought that was a dramatically romantic enough gesture for Gen to love."

*Right," Kohaku said, "because only  _ Gen _ is the dramatic one in your..."

That's when Senku's phone rang. He rushed across the room to pick it up. "Hey! You big oaf! Yuzuriha! How are you guys!?"

"Senku! We're good!" Taiju answered.

"As good as we can be under Tsukasa..." Yuzuriha amended. "And guess what? I think we got enough."

"Enough?" Senku asked.

"Yeah, enough to make those mines. Gen said you wouldn't need too much, just [INFORMATION REDACTED BY MECHA-SENKU DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS]!" Taiju said.

"Nice. I can always count on you guys... We'll be over at dawn in about a day or two. Need me to bring anything?"

"Just yourself would be nice. We miss you." Yuzuriha said.

"Yeah! It sucks that we don't see each other anymore!" Taiju said.

"Don't start crying now, you big oaf. I'll be there. Someone needs to make sure we got the good stuff. Besides... it'd be good to see you guys again," Senku said. "See you there."

"See you there!" They both said into the line.

Senku hung up.

"Senku, do you really think that's...?"

"Safe? Probably not..." Senku said. "But I won't go alone..."

"I'll go with you..."

* * *

Gen stepped into the lab. "I mean, I'm the obvious oice-chay. I've not only commuted that route so many times, but I can get into Hyoga's head and try to predict if he laid anything out against us...or bumped up security..." Gen explained. "I even know a few shortcuts."

Senku looked almost delighted. Gen frowned.  _ Don't think this means I'm not still pissed at you. I just want Tsukasa as far away from the village as we can get him. _

"This still seems like a bad idea. Neither of you are exactly combat specialists..." Kohaku said.

"I'll tail them." Kinro volunteered. "I've held my own against Hyoga before, and I've yet to face Tsukasa...though we'll need someone to help watch the bridge. I don't trust Ginro to not shirk his responsibilities when I'm gone..."

"Hey!" Ginro said defensively.

"I'll watch the bridge until you get back," Kohaku said. "Barring unforeseen circumstances..."

Kinro nodded with a slight smile. "Then it's in good hands."

"So it's settled: me, Gen, and Kinro are heading out tonight. By dawn, we'll be in enemy turf and getting that sweet, sweet acid."

Everyone nodded and pointedly left Senku and Gen alone.

"Gen...thanks..."

"Please, someone needs to make sure you don't go playing ‘Primates In Heat’ with Tsukasa because of last week..."

"You do realize what happened had nothing to do with him, right?"

"Right. It was all about you..." Gen said, then left. A little cruel, he realized, but he didn't want to get into it with Senku at the moment. He headed for the cave to get supplies. The Petrified Woman almost seemed to be judging him with her stony gaze.

"Oh, don't look at me like that! I can keep it together for one little side quest!" Gen said, noticing that sounded a bit more like a Senku-y thing to say.

_ I've finally lost my mind... _

* * *

"Good luck!" Suika said that night.

"You keep everyone in line, okay?" Senku said, patting her melon mask before getting up to talk to Kohaku's Dad and Chrome. "You're in charge of making sure the village doesn't get set on fire again and you'll make sure everyone keeps working on our current projects, okay?"

Both nodded, Chrome and Senku exchanging a fist bump. Once Senku was content that the village was in good hands, and was sure Kinro and Gen were ready to go, Senku and Gen set off. Kinro waited long enough to put a little space between him and them before following.

Gen's eyes flitted to the tree line. "Our little observer isn't in her tree..." he said.

"She probably went to tell Hyoga we're on the move..." Senku said, cleaning out his ear.

"Then we'll just have to take one of the alternate paths I found to Tsukasa's turf. I tried to have several exit ans-play."

Senku smirked. "Nicely done, Mentalist."

Gen didn't respond to that.

He did, however, later pipe up with "I'm sure you're happy to see Taiju and Yuzuriha again. If I didn't know any better," Gen said in a tone that hinted that he read Senku like a book, again. Senku hated it, but also felt flustered by it, particularly the thought of someone knowing him well. "I'd say you're on this mission partially because you miss them."

Senku tried to laugh it off. "I know they're fine and that when this war with Tsukasa is over we'll be all together, again. I just want to make sure everything goes smoothly. Besides, I'm the only person who can quickly identify them..."

"Sure, keep telling yourself that..." Gen said.

For a moment, things felt normal again. But Senku could sense the thick plexiglass wall Gen had metaphorically put between them.

And so they walked in silence for a while.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the village, Kohaku also noticed that girl's disappearance. She had a bad feeling.

"Something's up." Kohaku said.

"Yeah, I'm starting to think something happened on Gen's birthday..." Ginro said.

Kohaku sighed. "Not them, you blind idiot. I meant that girl who was spying on us. She seemed to disappear as soon as Senku and the others left..."

Ginro looked terrified, like his mind went to the worst case scenario. Namely, the first bridge fight with Hyoga.

"Kinro..." He said, then seemed to decide to be blindly courageous for once and charge after his brother.

"GINRO, NO, YOU IDIOT!" Kohaku shouted.

Then, to make matters worse, Suika and Chrome ran past her.

"I want to help, too!"

"SUIKA, DON'T–! SUIKA! OLD MAN KASEKI, HOLD DOWN THE FORT UNTIL I GET BACK!" he called back, putting on his spelunking gear.

_ Damn it! _

She wanted to go after them, but she was supposed to watch the bridge. Kohaku sighed, knowing there was only one solution to protect the village and her friends.

"Magma, you're in charge of the bridge until I get back."

Magma's eyes lit up. "I'm...in charge?"

"Of the  _ bridge _ , Magma!" Kohaku said.

"I'm in charge..." Magma said with the grin of a man who should've never been given power.

Kohaku sighed. "Beggars can't be choosers..." She said, and ran off after the others.

* * *

That night, the trio en route to Taiju and Yuzuriha stopped for a break to nap and eat. They had a good amount of time to get to their destination by dawn. Kinro was on the first shift of guard duty.

Gen had also opted to refill some of his blood bags. "Insurance," he said, when he caught Senku staring at him by the faint glow of the (still prototypical) lamplight. "Last thing I want is your boyfriend trying to kill me..."

"Oh, stop..." Senku said.

"What? Why should I care? I'm just an experiment..." Gen said.

"You're not just..." Senku said, pinching the bridge of his nose. Gen leaned in, expecting to hear the words he'd wanted to hear so long ago.

Then Senku glanced at Kinro, who was trying to act like he wasn't listening. "Look, let's not do this here..."

Gen sighed. "Then where  _ should _ we do this?" Gen said.

Senku pondered. "The stream over there. Five minutes," Senku said, then got up to head there early.

Gen sighed, gathering his thoughts in advance. He had a  _ lot _ to get off his chest.

Once he was ready, he headed for the stream.


	13. The Airing of the Grievances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THE BOYS ARE voicing some of their problems with what happened during The Kiss.
> 
> Senku has some choices to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember when this was a simple crack-y romance fic? So long ago...when I uploaded almost weekly...
> 
> (Also hello far future people reading this when it's all out sorry for the weird out of context blathering about schedules!)

"First off, can you explain what was with your mixed signals?"

"What?"

"I mean, one minute you're flirting with me, the next you're mad I kissed you..." Senku said, skipping a rock across the stream.

"Really? It's  _ that _ confusing for you?" Gen asked.

"Kind of."

"I wasn't ready and you didn't ask me. There," Gen said simply.

"You weren't ready? Then why were you flirt–"

"I was feeling things out, Senku! Not all of us have known we weren't straight for years!" Gen snapped.

Senku's eyes widened.

"I only realized I was bi a couple days ago! I need to adjust! I'm not even really fully out. I mean you know, Suika kinda knows, and I mean Ruri seemed to have figured it out..." Gen said.

Senku swore. He thought back to Gen's assertions he was straight the day they woke up together naked.  _ Of course. Damn it! Why didn't I realize–!? _

"Plus...I started to remember  _ that _ night..." Gen said.

"Did you remember if we...?"

"No...but when you kissed me it started coming back to me and it was a lot to take in and you didn't even seem to think the kiss was a big deal–then you having the  _ balls _ to call it an  _ experiment _ –wasn't helping and I just...I wasn't ready! I'm  _ still  _ not ready."

"Then...when do you think you'll be ready?" Senku said, before immediately wanting to shove his foot in his own mouth.

Gen frowned. "I don't know! I mean, we're just now talking to each other again! Maybe soon! Maybe never! I. Don't. Know. Don't pressure me!" 

"I'm not trying to pressure you, I'm just..." Senku tried to find his words again.

Gen looked disappointed.

"Senku, just...I think we should talk about this when we get back to the village...maybe even after we get the mines done. Hopefully you'll be able to talk to me by then..." Gen said. "For now, I just want to sleep..."

Gen straightened his jacket and turned around. He gave Senku a quick glance, then left before Senku could say anything. Senku flopped down on the ground and gripped at his hair.  _ You've looked death at the hands of a traitorous guy you liked in the eye! Why can't you just tell him how you feel and why you've been an idiot!? _

Senku got up.  _ So much for applying science to feelings... _

* * *

_ Senku had another dream. _

_ In this one, Gen was wrapped around Senku from behind as he worked on science again. “You know you could help if you want...” Senku said. _

_ Gen nuzzled in as if to shake his head. “Too omfy-cay~...” _

_ Senku chuckled. "So you're just gonna keep distracting me, huh?" _

_ "Until you pay attention to me. Or at least figure out what to do about this..." _

_ Senku was content to continue on his project, to find a way to make his solution work. He had a breakthrough! He smiled and turned to Gen. "I got–" _

_ Gen had been replaced by Tsukasa, who cleared the entire worktable behind Senku with a powerful sweep of his muscular arm. _

_ "You don't need it. You can have me instead..." he said in a low voice in his ear before hoisting him onto the table and... _

* * *

Senku woke up in a cold sweat. Gen had taken over watch duties and didn't seem to notice Senku's dream. Good. He didn't want to talk about it.  _ Funny, I haven't thought about Tsukasa like that since before Dad's tale... _ Senku thought. He hadn't even noticed until that little fantasy of sorts.

Gen's spiteful words rung through Senku's head:

_ "Well, if you want to ‘experiment’, go find Tsukasa! I'm sure you'd both be happy." _

__

And some frustrated part of him had wanted to. Maybe it still did a little. But Gen...

He tapped Gen's shoulder, pointing back to his sleeping bag, wordlessly telling him his shift was up.

Senku had a feeling he wouldn't sleep tonight.

* * *

That early morning, as they approached their destination, Senku told the others he would catch up with them.

"I need to get something real quick. I'll be back. Go on ahead and meet Taiju and Yuzuriha."

"Are you sure?" Kinro asked.

"I'm sure. This is kinda important and I don't want to make us lose time. I promise it won't take long."

Gen frowned. A jealous, irrational voice in his head started going on and on about how he was probably running away with Tsukasa.  _ He _ knew what he wanted and was ready to take it. He waved it away. "Fine," he said evenly, then turned to leave. "Come on, Kinro."

* * *

Kinro shrugged and turned to follow Gen.

Senku immediately ran to a bunch of black nightshade he saw under a tree and began to pick it. That was what you did when you wanted to apologise to the person you liked, right? He started rehearsing what he'd say.

"Gen, I'm sorry. I–"

Senku was immediately scooped up and pinned against a giant rock. His eyes widened when he saw his captor.

Tsukasa held him at eye level.

"Hello again, Senku..."

Senku dropped his nightshade.


	14. King of Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gen handles some business.

"Ah! Taiju! Yuzuriha!" Gen said brightly. "So nice to finally interact in person..."

The not-quite-an-official-couple approached Gen. "Oh, uh...hi, Gen..." Taiju said, looking behind and around Gen from where he was standing, clearly searching for Senku.

"It's weird. We got used to seeing you around when you were on Tsukasa's side, but it's still kinda surreal to be talking to a former celebrity..." Yuzuriha noted. She glanced at Kinro. "And who are you?"

"I'm Kinro," Kinro said flatly.

There was a silence. Taiju picked Gen up over his head, as if Senku was somehow under Gen.

Gen sighed. "I'm afraid Senku's running late. He had  _ something _ to do a ways back..." he explained with a forced smile, both from the thought of Senku and the mild terror that Taiju might drop him. "Or someone..." he mumbled under his breath. "So, I guess for now you're stuck with little old me for ow-nay~!" Gen said brightly, hiding his feelings.

"Ohhhhhhh no he doesn't! He's not getting out of this reunion!" Taiju said, tossing Gen into the air and bolting off to find Senku. Kinro managed to catch Gen, holding him like a princess. Gen felt a twinge of the old (the new?) bi dazzling, only for it to be cut short by Kinro putting him down and chasing after Taiju.

Yuzuriha sighed somewhat fondly, shaking her head. Then she turned her attention to Gen. "Well, I might as well give you the jug of nitric acid now," she said, handing it over to Gen. Gen's legs buckled under the weight of the clay vessel.

"Anks-thay..." he wheezed.

"And maybe I should give this to you just in case, too. You see, we had a little surprise for Senku..." she said, presenting a bulging waterskin.

"Hmm? Water?" Gen asked.

Yuzuriha shook her head. "Revival fluid. We skimmed some, too. Figured you guys could always use more help..."

Gen's eyes widened. "Th-thank you, Yuzuriha," He broke out into a wicked grin. "Senku's going to love it..."

Yuzuriha looked disturbed. "You and Senku must get along swimmingly..."

Gen blinked, for a moment losing his forced demeanor. "Usually..."

Yuzuriha tilted her head. "Huh? What's wrong?"

Gen sighed. "I suppose telling you wouldn't have too many consequences, given you're living with the other side...Senku kissed me."

Yuzuriha gasped. "Out of nowhere?"

"Well, I guess not entirely out of nowhere. We had been dancing around feelings, I gave him an observatory, he gave me cards...you know how it is..." He set down the jug and pulled out his cards. He finally properly thumbed through them beyond the Jokers in the back. "And to top it off...we might have had a drunken one night stand we both barely remember..."

Yuzuriha covered her mouth. "Seriously?  _ Senku _ slept with you?"

Gen nodded. "Why's that hard to believe?"

"It's just...Taiju and I've known he was gay for years, he told us, but as far as I know he's never expressed interest in any  _ specific _ guys! I mean, he's  _ Senku _ . he holds his cards to his chest a lot, but still!"

Gen raised an eyebrow.  _ So he's probably never dated before... _

As he kept checking out the cards, Yuzuriha peeked over his shoulder, curious about the cards now as well. Something seemed to catch her eye as Gen flipped through, and she pulled out a card. She looked surprised. "Oh, uh, wow."

Gen took the card and gasped. It turned out to be The King of Hearts. And it had been customized...with his likeness...

Gen blushed.  _ That seems cheesy for Senku, though. He's not exactly a  _ romantic _... _ He chuckled a little to himself.  _ He must've crowdsourced this specific part of the gesture...still, I appreciate how subtly dramatic it is. _

Yuzuriha peeked at the card, too. She smiled a bit. "You must be pretty special to him if he'd pull something like that..."

Gen smiled back. "I guess so..."

"So, how long have you two been toge–"

"We aren't," Gen said with a sigh. "He kissed me when I wasn't ready and it's been awkward since I'm still not used to all this. I only just realized I'm bi..."

"Ohhhhhhh. Oh no."

"I just...I need to work it out..."

"Whether or not you have feelings for Senku?"

"No, I  _ know _ I have feelings for Senku! I want to be with him! I like waking up next to him in the observatory in the morning! I like when he explains science, even when I can't follow! I like how excited he gets with every breakthrough! I like  _ him _ ! Even when he's being an idiot when it comes to getting with me! And the thought of him deciding to chase after anyone else-especially  _ Tsukasa _ -"

"Wait. Tsukasa?"

"-tears me up inside, and I don't want it to happen!" Gen shouted, near tears. That's when it struck him. "I need to tell him I'm ready..."

Yuzuriha smiled. "Good. Where is he, anyway?”

Gen shrugged. “Somewhere near all those trees and the big rock a ways back. Vaguely about...” He pointed to his right. “That a ways.”

Yuzuriha paled. “We saw Tsukasa leave for that side of the forest earlier..."

Gen felt his heart drop. “No way. They couldn’t have... _ he _ couldn’t have...DAMN IT WE GOT COCKY! WE SHOULD’VE STOPPED HOMURA!”

"And Taiju went after Senku..." Yuzuriha said, pressing her palms to her temples. Her body language conveyed that she was thinking the same thing as Gen: “how could we be so stupid?”

“I have to find and warn him before he blows our cover,” she almost whispered before bolting towards what was surely going to be the sight of nothing good.

Gen wasn’t as quick to leap into action. He was still trying to process Senku and Tsukasa being in the same place. Especially after he and Senku had been fighting. A paranoid voice in his head whispered  _ What if they planned this? What if they wanted to meet up all along? You haven’t been keeping an eye on Senku. _

* * *

_ His stupid head started picturing a little chibi Senku with a wicked grin running through the woods. “Ha! Gen is so stupid not to realize I really ran off to bone Tsukasa!” _

_ A little chibi Tsukasa appeared by the rock, ripping his shirt off. “Ready to get with a real man, Senku?” _

_ “Yes, please! I love a guy who knows what he wants!” The chibi Senku then leapt into Chibi Tsukasa’s arms, the two creating a cloud of hearts... _

* * *

Gen slapped himself. “FOCUS MENTALIST! You know he-”

He heard a rustling from the trees. Some birds flew off suddenly out of the corner of his eye. Gen nearly jumped out of his skin.

“...Just forget about boys and get the hell out of here.”

The jug was right at his feet. Damn it. What was he supposed to do with that!? "I suppose I could hide it..." He said to himself. Carrying it was out of the question; the thing was like carrying a mid-size, very sloshy human for him. He didn’t want to risk spilling all its contents. Not after everything they’d gone through to get it. Instead, he just pushed it into some bushes near the cliffside.

But just as he did so, he heard a rustling again, this time from behind. He spun around and was greeted by a kudayari under his chin.

"Hello, traitor..." Hyoga said pleasantly.

"Uck-fay..."


	15. Say No To This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukasa has a proposition. Senku has an answer.

"I have a proposition..." Tsukasa said.

"If it's ‘no science or die’, no thanks..." Senku said, wiggling around.

Tsukasa pressed himself closer to hold back Senku's movement. "No. This one is more beneficial to the both of us..."

"How so?"

"Join me. You only use science to heal the sick, prepare food, or improve quality of life in our empire...and you become my lover..."

Senku stilled. "What?"

"I need you, Senku. Like I've never needed anyone before. I've regretted trying to kill you for so long... Please, reject Gen. Give yourself to me and I'll give you what I can in return...and myself..." Tsukasa said, stroking his cheek.

"Tsukasa...I..." Senku didn't know what to say. This never happened to him before. Ever. (At least, not with guys...) He wasn't _tempted_ , was he?

Tsukasa cupped his face. "Maybe this will help you make up your mind..."

Tsukasa kissed him deeply, moving his hands to Senku's hips and gripping them.

* * *

For a beautiful moment, it was going like Tsukasa fantasized it would: Senku seemed to be kissing back, his arms around Tsukasa's neck. Tsukasa could already see where they'd go from here: Senku begging for more—to be with him, and denouncing science altogether—and forgetting anything he had with Gen, Tsukasa bringing him back to his cave and making sweet love to him, enough to make up for their war and truly celebrate starting anew, and just...staying in that cave for days, in the world of each other.

Senku also never left Tsukasa's furs in these fantasies. He knew it was hypocritical to be so greedy, but this little piece of selfishness was different from the wealthy and the adults who did nothing to make the old world better; him keeping Senku for himself hurt no one. Humanity could carry on without him.

Tsukasa broke away for air. "Senku..." he moaned, then went in for another intoxicating kiss.

That's where it went wrong.

* * *

_I...don't feel anything..._

That was Senku's first thought before Tsukasa kissed him again. He'd gone along with the kissing at first because there had been a part of him still pining for him. He figured he'd let that part take in new data and come to its own conclusions. And while, objectively, it felt like a good kiss, (Tsukasa certainly seemed to think so, with the way he seemed to be resisting grinding and the moan) he just...felt nothing...

...except guilt.

He kept picturing Gen. How much this would hurt him. How much Senku wanted to apologise. How much he wished _Gen_ was kissing him. Like that night when they...it was coming back to him! Gen, Gen, Gen, Gen...

"Gen..." Senku sighed out when Tsukasa broke away again, this time eager to kiss his neck.

Tsukasa stilled like he'd been petrified again. "You still want him..."

Senku sighed. He could tell things were about to get bad. "Yeah, I do..."

"And do you even want me?"

"Not anymore. Especially if it would hurt him..."

"Oh, you won't have to worry about him hurting anymore...if Hyoga does his part..." Tsukasa said in a low tone.

Senku's eyes widened. "No..."

"Right now he's probably on his way to kill him. Even if he wasn't the object of your affection, he's still a traitor, a threat, and a trespasser. He'll probably kill that bridge guard, too..."

"Are you trying to blackmail me into loving you?"

"I'm just stating a fact. I wish it hadn't come to this either, Senku. I really think we could have had something..."

"Not in this life!" Senku said, digging his nails into Tsukasa's neck just deep enough to make the man cry out and release Senku. It wasn't the most graceful landing for the scientist, flopping flat on his back with a sudden thud. He struggled to get back up onto his feet, wobbling as he gained his bearings. Tsukasa looked stunned by what had just transpired. It was the perfect opportunity for Senku to punch him in the crotch. Something crunched. Then he went to grab the nightshade off the ground, and immediately ran off into the trees, unsure of if Tsukasa was going to give chase.

Senku weaved through the trees, trying to work his way near his original destination while not showing his hand. Speaking of his hand, once he was certain he had gotten some distance and Tsukasa wouldn’t find him, he finally cried out and looked at his poor busted hand. _Did I really use hysterical strength to punch Tsukasa in the dick? And WHAT THE HELL IS HE MADE OF MARBLE FROM HEAD TO TOE!?_

He stowed the now very wilted nightshade in his belt before temporarily wrapping his hand up with his wrist wraps to deal with later. Right now he needed to save...

"SENKU!"

Senku looked around to see his lifelong best friend and his village friends, sans Gen, run up to him. Taiju bolted to the front and scooped Senku into a big ol' spine-crushing bear hug. "SENKU, I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"

Senku chuckled, unable to contain a smile. "Missed ya too...ya big oaf… Please stop hugging me..."

Taiju set him down. "Sorry, almost forgot you weren't a hugger! It's been forever! What happened to your hand?"

"Punched Tsukasa in the junk," Senku said nonchalantly.

"HOLY CRAP!"

"BAD!" Chrome exclaimed.

"I mean, crotch shots are practically our secret technique by now...also _what the hell are all of you doing here!?_ Chrome, you were supposed to be in charge of the science!"

"Suika ran off to help you and I had to stop her! Ginro decided to not be a scumbag and protect Kinro, and I think Kohaku was trying to drag us all back..." Chrome said, counting off everyone's motivations on his fingers.

"Which, by the way, who's watching the bridge?" Kinro asked.

"...Magma..." Kohaku said, full of regret.

"... _Oh dear God, Kohaku_..." Kinro said in horror.

"Aaaaaaaanyway," Chrome said, reclaiming the conversation, "I didn't think Suika would get so far after so long. Then we all heard screaming and shouting..."

"...That was probably me. Sorry..." Taiju said.

"Taiju! Senku!" Yuzuriha exclaimed with relief, finally running up to catch up to the group. "Wait, who are these guys?"

"Ugh, we don't have any more time for introductions and motive exposition. Sorry to cut the reunion short, but I need to save Gen! Hyoga's after him, and..."

"Say no more, Senku! He was over there last I checked..." Taiju said, pointing towards where he’d been.

Senku ran past him, faster than he ever had. If only his PE teachers could see him now. It helped that he had a singular goal aside from ‘just don't fail class’.

All he could think of now was ‘find Gen, save Gen.’ As if to add to the incentives, he replayed memories of him. How handsome and clever he was, whether Senku would admit it or not. And the annoying little things he did that Senku would miss if he was gone. And two other, specific memories:

The first was Gen in the observatory, looking at the stars and ghosting around a confession. Senku hadn't realized how much he appreciated that moment. That slip of Gen's mask, bathed in moonlight and stars.

( _Seriously? Listen to yourself with that flowery nonsense..._ he thought. _You're getting as cheesy as he is._ )

The second was him, drunk and in his bed a few weeks ago. Gen cupped his face, looking at him like he was brand new. He even almost seemed puzzled, but that quickly faded. "You make me so happy..." he'd said as his hands roamed and Senku's eyes grew heavier. Gen yawned. "For eeaaaal...." he'd managed before falling asleep.

_Focus!_ Senku thought.

He finally got to the cliffside clearing just in time to see Gen, looking bloodied, at Hyoga's feet and kudayari-point. Gen and Senku's eyes met. Gen offered a weak smile; Senku felt cold. Gen was at the cliffside clearing. Hyoga looked between the two of them. "Actually, I've changed my mind. There's only one proper way to end the Kingdom of Science: go for the _heart_!"

He smacked Gen in the face with the butt of the kudayari, pushing him off the cliff.


End file.
